Assassin's Creed: Sea of Blades
by PageMaster434
Summary: Young Sara-Beth Ravenswood, daughter of the late pirate Assassin Rowland Ravenswood, joins up with a team of pirate Assassins and trains under the guidance of Captain Dag in order to seek revenge on Blackheart; the pirate Templar who struck down her father many years ago
1. Prologue

Prologue

It was March 15, during the 1700s when it happened. I never expected something like this to happen to me in years... a pirate raid on my home... my home. I remember it like it was yesterday too, the bastards came during the night and set Ravenswood Cove ablaze. My eyes snapped open at the sound of cannon fire coming from outside and the screams of the residents as they fled for their lives...

"Sara-Beth!" I heard my father call out.

I turned and saw my father come into my room, he was wearing his old pirate uniform and he had an alarmed look on his face.

"Father, what's wrong? Is it a raid?" I asked.

"Sara-Beth, there's no time to explain, I need you to hide," he said, "hide and don't come out until it's over."

I could only nod and hide under the bed as my father closed the door behind him and head out to go join the soldiers who were trying to repel the invaders. I didn't stay hidden for long though, I crawled out from under my bed and looked out of my window, I gasped in horror when I saw the soldiers get cut down from the pirates who were attacking us. The pirates were all garbed in black or bright red clothing, I didn't know who they were, and my father never told me about them whenever he told me one of his pirate stories before I went to sleep.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my father cutting down the pirates with lightning fast speed, I was completely shocked, I've never seen my father move that fast before, even at his age! My father blocked one pirate's attack and shot him in the heart with his first pistol, killing him. Another pirate was struck across the face with my father's second pistol, took a bullet to the shoulder and was sliced across the throat, killing him. Just then, I saw two more pirates' storm towards my father, who sheathed his sword, drew his last two pistols and fired, killing them both. I smiled.

Suddenly, I heard the door to the house burst open, causing me to jump and run under my bed. I covered my mouth as I heard multiple footsteps along with numerous voices. There were pirates in my house! I heard my mother scream.

"Mommy!" I called out.

I covered my mouth again, realizing that I screwed up. Unfortunately, my horrors came to light as a pirate entered my room and dragged me out from under my bed. I screamed and started thrashing like crazy as the pirate carried me into the living room and planted me right next to my mother, who was tied up. I looked up and saw one pirate step up and look me right in the face, he was garbed in a heavy trench coat, naval boats, pants, heavy gloves, and a three cornered hat with two cards in the rim and a red rose. Judging by his attire, I could only guess he was the pirate leader.

"You are... a very pretty bird, aren't you?" he asked, "how old are you lass? Ten?"

I shuddered and said, "Y...Yes."

The pirate cackled along with a few of his men. I was beyond terrified, I didn't know what was going to happen next... I didn't even want to know.

"Oh fair lass, would you like to know what we do to little ones like you?" he asked.

"You lay one hand on my daughter or my wife and I'll fucking kill you, Captain Blackheart," growled a voice.

I turned and saw my father standing nearby, both of his swords in each hand. I smiled.

"Daddy!" I called out.

The pirate, er... Captain Blackheart, turned and drew his sword. I swallowed.

"Alright then, Rowland, if that's how we're going to do it. Here's what we're going to do," he said, "you and me, 1 on 1, if you win, my crew leaves and your family lives. If I win, your wife dies and I take your daughter."

My throat went tight as I saw my father grip his swords and lunge at Captain Blackheart with incredible speed. My father lashed out with a flurry of slashes, as he and Captain Blackheart battled it out inside of the house.

 _"_ _Get him daddy,"_ I thought, _"get him."_

My father ducked and dodged as Blackheart swung on him numerous times, my father blocked, parried, ducked and struck Blackheart in the face with a twist kick. Before he could recoup, my father struck him in the jaw with another twist kick and kicked him right in the ribs, causing him to double over. As my father went for a double sword slash, Blackheart dropped to the ground, hopped back up and knocked him over with a shoulder tackle. I let out an alarmed gasp.

"You've lost your edge old man," said Blackheart.

My father rose and got in his battle stance again before jumping at his opponent. Blackheart battled it out with my father again for another five minutes, my heart was racing rapidly as these two hashed it out in a very vicious fight.

"I might be old, but I'll still kick your ass," my father growled.

My father caught another one of Blackheart's swings with a cross block, shoved him away and struck him across the face with a spinning kick. Blood flew off of Blackheart's lip from the blow, he quickly recouped and attacked again, forcing my father on his back foot. I grew worried, unless if my father did something quick, he would lose this fight.

 _"I have to do something,"_ I thought.

Thinking fast, I jumped up, swiped a sword from one of Blackheart's crew and went to go help my father.

"Sara-Beth!" my mother called out.

But I didn't listen, I used my strength to pull up the sword and swing with all of my might, slashing Blackheart across the back of the leg. It might've been a knick, but it was enough to bring him down. Unfortunately, he turned and struck me in the face with the back of his hand.

"Sara-Beth!" I heard my father call out.

I slowly rose up and saw Blackheart draw one of his pistols. Before anyone could react, Blackheart fired, and shot my father right in the chest, causing him to go down to one knee. I. Was. Mortified.

"DADDY!" I screamed.

"You brought this one yourself child, for you, your father, and your own mother," Blackheart growled in anger, "kill the bitch."

I turned and saw one of his pirates draw his sword and take my mother's head off, killing her. I was even more mortified.

"Hey captain, what about the girl?" asked one of the pirates.

"Leave her here," said Blackheart, "let her stew in her own misery."

I ran over to my father as Blackheart and his crew filed out. My father looked up at me and wiped away my tears.

"Va bene il mio bambino (It's alright my child)," he whispered, "era inevitabile (it was inevitable)."

I could only sob as my father closed his eyes and went still. I was destroyed. My home, my family, my life, all of that was taken from me by Blackheart and his crew. In a fit of rage, I marched outside and called out, "Hey!"

Luckily, Blackheart and his crew hadn't walked too far, so they were able to hear me. I beckoned him over to me, Blackheart chuckled and walked over, with a wicked grin on his face.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"I never got your name, bub," I growled.

Blackheart chuckled and got down on one knee so he could look me right in the eye.

"My name is Blackheart, I'm Captain of the Blackfire Pirates," he said, "why do you ask child?"

"So I can find you, and kill you," I growled.

Captain Blackheart laughed and stood up.

"I'm going to hold you to that child," he said as he walked away.

I watched as Blackheart and his crew board their ship and set sail into the night. I was so angry, I was so very angry, I clenched my fists so tight that my knuckles turned white. I wanted to kill Blackheart, I wanted revenge, but I knew that if I were to draw a sword on him... I'd be dead. If I wanted to get my revenge, I'd need to become the very thing that I just now began to despise: I'd need to become a pirate.

My name is Sara-Beth Ravenswood, and this is my story...


	2. Chapter 1: The young sailor

Chapter 1

The young sailor (Five years later)

Five years had passed since the attack on my home, since then, a lot of things had changed. I didn't necessarily become a pirate during that brief span of time, no, I was actually taken in by a new cove guard captain named London Howard Dagget. He seemed pretty cool and he's treated me really well, however, that's not really the biggest change that I've noticed, what I did notice, was that my home was now under the "protection" of a band of pirates who call themselves The Sea Wolves. I didn't like how my home was under the "protection" of pirates, but I knew it was better than having no added defenses and wind up having my home... never mind.

The point is, after five years passed, I built up the courage to ask London if he could teach me how to fight or possibly go on a little sailing trip with one of his officers...

"Why?" he asked.

"Uh... cause I want to?" I asked with a sheepish grin.

London looked at me and laughed.

"Sara-Beth, you're an adorable girl, but you are a terrible liar," he said, "now come on, why do you really want to learn to fight or go on a "sailing trip"?"

I looked down and sighed. I told London about the attack and how my parents were killed by Captain Blackheart, I also added if it was possible for him to ask the captain of The Sea Wolves if he could take me under his wing so I could become a pirate. London looked at me after I got finished talking and sighed.

"Sara-Beth-"

"London, I know what you're going to say, and I'm telling you right now, I'm ready for this," I interrupted, "I've been patient, I've done every task you've given me, I mean... I'm ready for this."

"Sara-Beth-"

"Please London, I want this," I said.

London cursed.

"Sara-Beth, this isn't justice," he said, "you're talking about full blown revenge."

"I never said it was justice London," I said, "that Mac soith (son of a bitch) killed my parents in cold blood and I demand payback."

London sighed and said, "I'll talk to the captain... but I can't guarantee that he'll take you under his wing. As for teaching you how to fight or going on a sailing trip... I'll think about it."

"Oh... alright then," I said.

At least it wasn't "no", that was a good thing. After we got finished talking, I decided to go for a walk on the beach, I didn't need to clear my head or anything I just wanted to go for a little walk. As I headed down the wooden staircase, I stopped at the final step and slowly took off my boots, as I took my first step on the sand, I smiled, feeling the warm granulated texture underneath my foot.

"Just like old times," I thought as I stepped towards the sea.

I found a nice spot and sat down near the water, I buried my feet in the sand and looked out to the horizon. I don't know why, but whenever I come down here, I would just lose myself from admiring the vast beauty of the ocean. My father always told me that on land, men are limited by morality and law, but out there on the ocean, there are no limits, no rules, no borders, and no boundaries. Out there on the seven seas, you're a free man.

Those very words made me admire pirates and hate them... I'm sorry, I was rambling, I didn't mean to ramble.

"Hey kid," said a voice.

I turned and saw a pirate walking over to me. He was a tall, broad, well-built pirate, he had a naval officer's coat, a cut toe sword and two sets of pistols. Judging by the attire, I could only guess that he was the captain of The Sea Wolves: Captain Dag.

"You're Sara-Beth right?" he asked.

"Yes," I said as I stood up, "you're Captain Dag right?"

"Aye, that be me," he said, "so, London tells me that you want me to take you under my wing."

"Uh... yeah, that's right," I said.

Captain Dag looked at me really hard for about a minute, I shuddered slightly, I was afraid he'd hurt me or something.

"I'm afraid that's not happening," he said.

I was shocked.

"Why the hell not!?" I demanded.

"Sara-Beth, I won't lie to you, you're a good kid, you really are a good kid and I mean that," he said, "but I don't think you're ready to learn how to fight or go sailing yet."

"That's not fair! All I've done since London took me in was just take care of a few small tasks here and there!" I yelled, "don't get me wrong though, he also let me assist with breaking up a few drunken brawls, but still!"

Dag looked at me and sighed.

"Sara-Beth... I... ugh, Sara-Beth why don't you come with me for a minute?" he asked, "I want to show you something."

I let out a huff and followed Dag to a large ship that was docked in the shipyard.

"What do you see here?" he asked.

"Your ship," I said.

"That's right," he said, "this ship is my most prized possession, my entire crew has bled for her in the many ocean battles we've been in. Over time, I've repaired and modified my ship to the point where it went from the size of a simple brig to... well, this."

I smiled.

"Cool," I said.

"This isn't something for you to take so lightly though Sara-Beth," said Dag, "the only reason why I and many of my crew mates are alive is because we learned to separate ourselves from the rest of the typical pirates that roam the seas. Those scurvy dogs only care about whisky, money, and taking people hostage. Do you know why I named my crew The Sea Wolves?"

I shook my head.

"Because wolves stick together, and much like wolves, my crew stick together as well no matter what," said Dag, "we're brothers and sisters of the sea who have a set of rules and codes to follow, it is because of these rules and codes that many of my crew became hardened pirate veterans."

"I have a feeling I'm about to find out why he won't take me under his wing," I thought.

"When I look at my crew, I see people who've found purpose in their lives after walking in the shadows of doubt for so long," he said, "many of them used to be soldiers of fortune, fishermen, farmers, merchants, you name it. When they joined my crew and they underwent so many events while under my command, I knew that they made the right choice by wanting a life of piracy. When I see you... I see a child who's after one purpose, and one purpose alone: Vengeance."

My irritation and annoyance soon melted away.

"You can say that you've always wanted to go sailing, but I know that's not really why you want to go out there," said Dag, "if you go down this path Sara-Beth, you're going to wind up dead... and I don't think your parents would want that... would they?"

I looked up at Dag and then I looked down at the ground. I didn't know what to say.

"Ask yourself this Sara-Beth, is it better to try to find a purpose in life? Or is it better to use purpose as an excuse in order to achieve a personal goal?" he asked.

Before I could say anything, Dag turned and walked away, leaving me alone at the shipyard. As much as I hate to admit it, Dag was right, I guess my love for wanting to go sailing was an excuse so I could hunt down Captain Blackheart and kill him.

 _"Excuse or not, I won't spend the rest of my life as a cove guard dammit,"_ I thought angrily, _"I'll show them I have what it takes to be a strong and capable pirate."_

Little did I know though, that my chance would come a lot sooner than I expected...


	3. Chapter 2: Proving your worth

Chapter 2

Proving your worth

Later that evening, things were pretty slow as always, I spent my time down at the pier, looking out over the vast ocean, which sparkled like a sheet of sapphires. God I was so bored, I wanted something to happen, anything just so my evening wouldn't be so... dull.

That was when my prayers were answered a little sooner than I expected...

"Hey," said a voice.

I turned and saw a cove guard approach me, he was a strapping young guard, he had a simple haircut, an average build and he was armed with a rifle and sword. I recognized the guy, it was Hector.

"Oh, hi Hector," I said, "what brings you here?"

"I heard about how you've been wanting to learn how to fight and how you want to go out to sea for the first time," said Hector, "so I thought I'd come and talk to you and... well, see if you still wanted to do those things."

I gave Hector a look.

"Did London put you up to this?" I asked.

Hector shook his head.

"However, I did ask what was troubling him and he said you've been a little caught up with wanting revenge on that pirate who murdered your family five years ago," he said.

I let out a huff.

"Look, I don't know what happened in your life Sara-Beth, and I know that's none of my business," he said, "but if you want to learn how to fight as well as sail out there on the sea... I'll help you."

I whirled around and looked at Hector like he was crazy.

"You're joking," I said.

Just then, he tossed a sword at me, I caught it and looked him right in the face. He was smiling.

"Mac soith (Son of a bitch), you're not joking," I said.

Hector chuckled and beckoned me to follow him down to the beach. Reluctantly, I obliged, and followed him down to our little... "sparring area", where we could cross swords in private.

"Draw your sword," said Hector.

I drew me sword from the sheath. I found it a tad odd, as soon as I pulled out my weapon it seemed a bit... lighter without the sheath. I gave the sword a quick sweep from left to right and smiled, just the right amount of weight.

"Let's begin shall we?" asked Hector.

Before I could respond, I jumped back as he lunged at me with his weapon. I mean, Jesus man, give a girl a word of warning before you try to skewer her in the throat!

"Excellent reflexes, you're going to need them if you're going up against a speedy opponent," said Hector.

When he struck again, instead of jumping back, I brought my sword up and parried his attack; quickly getting into a fighting stance, I jumped at Hector and started lashing out with a series of quick sweeping strikes and stabs. Hector stepped back as he blocked and parried each of my blows with relative ease, that is until he slipped past my guard and forced me on my back foot again, almost causing me to fall over from the sudden surprise attack.

"Excellent, not too fast and not too slow. Your precision is on par, which means you're not swinging blindly, and your timing is also on par as well," said Hector, "now, I won't have to worry about going easy on you."

 _"Uh-oh,"_ I thought dreadfully.

All at once, Hector jumped at me again, his sword moving with incredible speed, almost as if it had become invisible. I blocked and parried as best as I could; but I mostly resorted to having to duck and dodge his attacks as best as I possibly could, and let me tell you, there's nothing scarier than having to fight for your life when one of your comrades is trying to take your head off with his own sword.

"Come on, stop trying to evade and fight back Sara-Beth!" barked Hector.

As soon as he said that... something inside of me awakened. I don't know what it was, but before I knew it, a bell went off in my head. Without even thinking, I caught Hector's sword with my own and swat it away, then I twisted and struck him in the jaw with a good, hard kick.

 _"Go in for the kill!"_ I thought.

With a quick flourish from my sword I forced, a dazed and disoriented, Hector onto his back foot and went for a lunge, aiming my sword at his throat and forcing him to lean back. Finally, I brought him down with a sweep of my right foot and held my blade at his Adam's Apple. Hector slowly threw his hands up and said, "Okay... you win."

"Damn right I won," I said as I sheathed my sword.

I helped Hector to his feet and dusted the sand off of him.

"How did you do that?" he asked.

"Do what?" I asked.

"You moved faster than an average duelist, I've never seen anyone move that fast before since... ever," said Hector, "Sara-Beth... who was your father?"

"Rowland... Rowland Ravenswood," I said.

Hector looked like he was holding in a gasp when I told him who my father was. Did Hector know my father? If so, was Hector going to do something to me as a result?

"You're... You're the daughter of Lord Ravenswood," he said.

"Lord Ravenswood?" I asked.

Suddenly, there was an explosion coming from the ocean, I turned and saw something heading for the beach. It was a cannonball!

"Shit!" I shouted.

Hector and I broke off as the cannonball impacted onto the beach, causing a cloud of sand to erupt from the explosion and shower the both of us. I looked up and saw a ship... a pirate ship, coming right towards us. At the same time, the alarm bell was going off. We were about to undergo another invasion!

"Sara-Beth, you have to head back to the headquarters, it's about to get really dangerous," said Hector.

"The hell if I am Hector," I said, "I'm not sitting on the sidelines again."

Hector sighed and shook his head. He drew a pistol from his holster and tossed it to me, which I caught and slipped into my own holster.

"If London asks, I'll cover for you," he said.

I smiled.

As I turned back toward the pirate ship that had just weighed anchor, Hector and I saw scores of pirates jump onto the sand and charge towards the town. Suddenly, I looked up at the sound of numerous muskets going off, nice timing London.

"Men, keep those pirates away from the town!" ordered London.

"Wolves! Tear those pirates to pieces!" barked Captain Dag.

All at once, cove guards and Sea Wolf pirates combined, stormed down the stairs from the pier and charged towards the enemy pirates, Hector and I reluctantly joined them of course. I looked through the fray of clashing swords and pistols going off as I searched for a suitable opponent. As I turned around again, I ducked as a pirates swung at my neck.

"Ha-ha! Aren't you a little young to be playing with swords kiddie?" mocked the pirate.

I growled and gripped my sword, without hesitating, I charged and crossed swords with my opponent. Ha-ha, my god! I was having a real sword fight with a pirate! These guys might not be the same pirates that attacked five years ago (I mean seeing's how their flag bore a skull with crossed treasure keys), but still at least I'll get a little bit more experience in a real fight rather than a sparring match... did it sound like I was babbling? I'm so sorry.

"You're good kid, but you're no pirate, and if you're certainly not even worthy enough to be a soldier either," mocked the pirate.

I growled again. When my opponent swung again, I caught his blade, gave it a quick spin and disarmed him with a quick flick of my wrist, before he could react I drew my pistol and fired, hitting the pirate in the chest and dropping him. I looked down and watched as he coughed and choked on his own blood, twitching every few seconds, pressing down on his open wound until he went limp and he was gone. I smirked.

"Is maith liom an dóigh leat bás buachaill (I like the way you die boy)," I said.

I looked at my pistol and shrugged as I tossed it off to the side. My father said that flintlocks and muskets only hold one bullet and were a pain to reload, seeing's how I lacked the... ammunition, I felt no need to carry it. However, as I looked at the dead pirate's sword, I walked over and picked it up in my left hand. I smiled.

 _"I always wanted to wield two weapons,"_ I thought with a giggle.

Just then, a bell went off in my head and I found myself dodging a sword swing from another pirate. I looked to see who it was, judging by his garb, I could only guess that this guy was the captain of these... roustabouts.

"You have skills child," he said, "you're going to need them if you hope to defeat the likes of me, Captain Skullcap of The Skull Duggary Pirates."

I got in my battle stance and prepared to engage him when I turned to the sound of a pair of swords coming at me from behind, forcing me to roll out of the way.

"Hey, that's not fair! I can't handle 3 on 1!" I protested.

"Well then this should be a very short match," said Skullcap, "let's kill her boys."

The two pirates moved in first, I blocked and parried the first pirate's advance while dodging and retaliating the second pirate's advance with a parry and a twist kick to his nose, disorienting him for a few seconds.

"Keep her distracted boys, I've got a good line on her," said Skullcap.

It didn't take me long to realize what Skullcap meant by that, and before I knew it, I grabbed one of his nearby pirates and used him as a human shield, protecting me from Skullcap's shot and killing one of his comrades in the process. I sheathed my offhand sword, grabbed the dead pirate's flintlock and tossed him onto the ground as I fired on Skullcap, hitting him in the shoulder. I saw Skullcap curse and order the two pirates to attack me. I prepared to draw my offhand sword, but I dismissed the idea and instead, I rolled off to the side, slashed the first pirate in the back of the leg, causing him to go down. When the second pirate jumped at me, I sprung back and knocked him back with a hard shoulder tackle. Using the small window of opportunity, I ran over to the fallen pirate and used him as a human shield as I heard Skullcap prepare to fire on me again. I drew the dead pirate's flintlock, shot the second pirate in the stomach, hopped up and stabbed him in the chest, killing him.

"That takes care of them," I said to myself as I drew a flintlock from my fallen opponent's holster.

As I turned around, I was knocked to the ground with a slap from Captain Skullcap. I looked up and rolled out of the way as he tried to impale me with his sword, without wasting a second, I aimed the pistol at Skullcap and shot him in the shoulder, causing him to stagger.

"Gotcha bitch," I said as I hopped up.

Skullcap glared at me and looked to over from the left and then the right.

"Rick, Samson, kill her!" he ordered.

I looked and saw two more of his flunkies walk over to me, uncanny... un-fucking-canny. But I wasn't afraid... no, I let my instincts take over and I got in my battle stance again. Rick and Samson engaged me at the same time, reversing my grip on my main hand sword, I parried Samson's attack, struck Rick right in the nose with my elbow and drove both of my weapons through his gut, killing him. When I turned, Samson smacked me in the face with his flintlock and prepared to fire when I swat his hand away, kicked him in the ribs and drove my offhand sword through his neck, brutally killing him.

 _"How the fuck am I doing this? I've never moved this fast before,"_ I thought as I looked at my blood soaked swords.

Just then, I felt a sharp pain in my right shoulder and I went down screaming. I gritted my teeth and bit back a long string of curses... also some tears of pain as I looked up and saw Skullcap walk over to me. He shot me, the son of a bitch shot me while I had my guard down, what the hell?

"Now that you're disabled..." he started to say.

Suddenly, Skullcap let out a pained yelp and dropped to his knees, I looked up and saw Captain Dag standing behind him, with his flintlock in his hand.

"Your kind isn't welcome here Skullcap, tell whatever reaming crew you have left to get on your ship and go home," said Dag.

As he talked, I saw Dag slowly reach into his coat and grab a four flintlock. Oh-no, Dag was in trouble!

"Big talk Captain Dag, especially considering the fact that you're also a member of "my kind"," he said as I prepared to turn around and fire.

"NO!" I screamed.

Without hesitating, I pulled my main hand sword up and drove it through Captain Skullcap's ribs. When I pulled my weapon out, Skullcap looked down and let out an alarmed gasp, he looked over at me and tried to turn his gun barrel in my direction before drawing his final breath and dying. I looked at Dag and Dag looked at me, then he turned and shouted, "You're captain has been slain in combat! Get your sorry carcasses, off of this land now!"

I looked and saw Skullcap's remaining pirates retreat back onto the ship and sail back out to sea, leaving the rest of us to enjoy a... very unexpected victory by my hand. Unexpected or not though, that was a very exhilarating battle.

"Are you alright Sara-Beth?" asked Dag.

I nodded and slowly got up.

"I got shot, but I'm fine," I said.

As I got to my feet, I fell into Dag's arms, I was starting to lose too much blood.

"Sara-Beth's wounded! She needs help!" I heard Dag call out.

The last thing I could remember before I started to black out, was feeling my whole body get picked up as Dag carried me back into town.


	4. Chapter 3: Joining the crew

Chapter 3

Joining the crew

The next morning, I woke up in an emergency room, my shoulder was bandaged up and I had a bit of a bad headache. Other than that though, I was fine.

"So... you mind telling me what that was out there?" asked a voice.

I looked over and saw Dag step out from behind the curtain. I gave him a look.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Dag sat down and looked at me, I was nervous, I didn't know if he was going to scold me or what.

"Sara-Beth... who was your father again?" he asked.

"Uh... Rowland Ravenswood," I said, "why do you ask?"

Dag smiled and chuckled.

"I thought your last name sounded familiar," he said, "your father... I knew him before you were born."

Okay forget nervous, now I was confused as hell.

"You knew my father?" I asked.

Dag nodded.

"Your father never told you all about his life did he?" he asked.

I shook my head and said, "No, he only told me a few bits and pieces but... nothing really major."

Dag sighed and shook his head.

"Rowland you idiot!" I heard him murmur.

"What did you say?" I asked.

"Sara-Beth... you've inherited a very unique gift from your father, a gift that's extremely rare for people of the norm," said Dag, "this gift that's within you, that's what has allowed you to move faster than your enemies could perceive, it's what allowed you to fight so perfectly without proper training, and it's also allowed you to have such heightened senses."

"Wait... what?" I asked.

Dag shook his head.

"Nothing... never mind," he said, "well, actually not so much as never mind- look, the point Sara-Beth is that... perhaps I was too... quick to reject taking you under my wing."

"What are you saying?" I asked.

Dag smiled at me and tossed a set of clothes on my bed, along with a pair of swords and two flintlock pistols. I recognized the colors! Those were Sea Wolf colors!

"I want you to join my crew," he said.

I didn't know what to say, I just jumped into Dag's arms and hugged him. I couldn't believe it! I was about to become a pirate! As soon as Dag left the room, I was quick to throw on my new clothes, making sure I didn't strain my bandaged shoulder too much in the process of course and looked at myself in the mirror. For a set of clothes consisting of a pair of sleek leather boots, a skirt, blouse, vest, a pair of finger-less gloves, and a small naval jacket, it didn't seem like much. I couldn't complain though, I liked it nonetheless... actually that's a lie, I kind of found the skirt a little off-putting, mainly because it went a few inches above my knees.

"You look perfect," said a voice.

I turned and saw Dag standing in the doorway, I blushed.

"Um... Dag, I know that this is pirate gear and all but is the short skirt really necessary?" I asked.

"It was the only piece of clothing that was in your size," he said with a shrug, "oh, and this hat's also for you."

Dag handed me a small hat that had a rose on it. Judging by the make, I could only guess that this hat's Spanish-made. How do I know this you might ask? Simple, when you're the daughter of a pirate, turned fisherman, you kind of learn a lot about different cultures that you've never seen for yourself. And when I mean "learn a lot", I mean really learn a lot.

"Thanks," I said as I put the hat on, "but uh... why the hat though?"

"It's to let people know you mean business," said Dag, "now come on, it's time for you to meet the rest of the crew."

I followed Dag to the Sea Wolf lodge, where the crew was waiting for his return. As we walked through the town, I saw a lot of people looking at the two of us and turning away. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a guy turn and blow a kiss at me. I guess the girl who was walking with him was his girlfriend, because before I knew it, she slapped the guy across the face and starting cursing at him. I blushed and giggled.

"Yeah... women pirates kind of have a... strong influence on weak-willed men," said Dag, "case-and-point."

"I see," I said as I blushed.

I wasn't used to boys looking at me like this, they never looked at me when I was ten, and they certainly never looked at me when I was wearing my cove guard gear, so... this was relatively new to me. As Dag and I approached the lodge, I heard someone call out, "Dag's got himself a She-Wolf fellas!"

I turned and saw a group of guys let out wolf howls. I blushed even brighter. I was really not used to this kind of thing. Dag pushed me inside.

"You'll get used to it," he said.

"I hope so," I said, "ugh, what's that stench?"

"That's the stench of well payed pirates, fair lass," said a voice.

I turned and saw a red-bearded pirate sitting at a table with another pirate, the two of them were playing a game of checkers.

"Sara-Beth, I'd like you to meet the crew, those two right there are Red Beard and Chopper," said Dag, "that's Scythe, Atkins, Sceezor, Tank, Lockjaw, William, Marcus, Gordon, Victor, Oliver, Damon, Jack, Matthew, Bartholomew, Kindred, Trident, and Danielle. These lads are my main men, my elites, my right hands... get the picture?"

I nodded and waved at the Sea Wolves. Across the main hall, I saw a pirate sitting on top of a barrel of whisky and was in the middle of reading a book.

"Who's that one?" I asked pointing at the young pirate.

Dag looked at who I was pointing at and chuckled.

"That's Balto," he said, "but everyone calls him Zero."

"Zero?" I asked.

"Yeah, but that's only because he doesn't talk much," said Kindred.

"If you want, I can introduce you to him," said Dag.

I blushed brightly and whirled around at him like he was crazy.

"Whoa, what!?" I demanded in a loud whisper.

"Oh come on Sara-Beth, you haven't been here for five minutes and I can already see you like the guy," said Dag.

I threw my hands up.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, that is totally not true," I said, "I mean sure the guy's cute and all, but that is an incredibly false accusation, I mean, even if that's true there's no telling if he likes me back or not... and he's standing right behind me isn't he?"

Dag stifled a chuckle. I turned and let out a squeak as I saw Balto standing right behind me.

"Hi, I'm Balto," he said, "you must be Sara-Beth right?"

"Uh... Uh... Sara-Beth Ravenswood, yes," I said.

Balto gave me a warm smile and ran his fingers through my hair.

"Ravenswood, huh?" he asked, "you're actually almost as pretty as a raven too."

I shuddered and blushed even more, I felt my heart racing. Was this guy... flirting with me? Was this really happening right now?

"You know I saw you fighting those pirates last night, that was really... impressive," he said with a smile, "maybe sometime you and I could... spar for a bit?"

I let out a childish giggle and quickly clapped my hands over my mouth. I heard Dag laugh.

"Um... s-sure, I'd like that," I said.

"Cool," he said.

Balto walked away, leaving me to absorb everything that had just happened.

"You two seemed to hit it off quite fast," said Oliver.

"Shut up!" I snapped.

Dag, Red Beard and Matthew all let out a hearty laugh. After getting acquainted with the crew, Dag led me to my room, which was complete with a lantern, a full sized bed, dresser, and a weapons rack.

"Nice place," I said.

"I'm glad you approve," said Dag, "make yourself at home."

 _"Oh I intend to Dag... I most certainly intend to,"_ I thought.

Pirate's Hour

The next morning, I awoke, feeling fresh and new. Though my shoulder still throbbed lightly from the shot I took two days ago, but other than that I was still fine. I didn't know where Dag and his crew got these quality mattresses and quite frankly, I didn't want to know. I hopped out of bed and stretched my stiff limbs. Out of the corner of my eye, I say a note on my dresser. I walked over and read it.

"Everyone went out to get breakfast, feel free to join us if you wish,

-Captain D," it read.

I threw on my clothes and stepped outside, I closed my eyes and smiled as I felt the warm, radiant light of the sun on my face. I even let a small laugh pass my lips.

"Such a beautiful day," I thought as I headed into town.

As I walked through the streets, I saw number of people staring at me just like before, the only difference, is that three guys stepped up to talk to me. Oh great, just what I need, more guys to try to get with me.

"Well, well, well, looks like we have ourselves a beautiful she-wolf here boys," said the first guy.

"Where you off to sweetheart?" asked the second guy, "off on a trip to uh... search for some treasure?"

I blushed brightly.

"Um... I was actually on my way to get... breakfast with my friends," I said.

"Oh forget, about your friends sweetheart, why don't you spend some time with my friends and I?" asked the third guy.

I backed away from my... suitors and blushed even more.

"Um, guys look, you all are really cute and I understand I look... rather desirable in this outfit but I'm not really looking for a serious relationship," I said.

Just then, I saw someone come up behind the guys and knock them all down with a series of punches and kicks. I recognized the person who saved me, it was one of Dag's men, Lockjaw's brother Ripjaw.

"You're Sara-Beth, right?" he asked.

I nodded.

"Captain Dag told me to come and get you, make sure that you weren't still asleep," he said.

"You say that like he wants to talk to me about something important," I said.

"He does," said Ripjaw, "now come on, the captain's waiting for you."

I followed Ripjaw to a nearby dive, from far off; it looked like that the place was packed with people, when I got closer though it turned out that the people inside of the building were actually the Sea Wolf crewmen and women. I didn't even know that the Sea Wolves had this many members, it was insane! When Ripjaw lead me inside the dive, the smell hit me hard like a punch to the nose, the restaurant reeked of whisky and sweat, I looked around and saw Dag and his crew eating and drinking to their hearts content, they also talked, joked, sang a few songs, and I saw a number of them playing checkers.

"Sara-Beth, over here!" I heard Dag call out.

I turned and saw Dag, along with a lot of his officers sitting at a big table near the back of the restaurant, I walked over and sat next to him. No sooner had I sat down, a chef bought out a plate of food for me along with a mug of milk. I was shocked, I didn't know what made these chefs serve these guys like they were kings, but whatever it was, I liked it.

"Say, is it just us here Dag?" I asked.

"Aye, it's Pirate's Hour," said Red Beard.

"Pirate's Hour, what's that?" I asked.

"Pirate's Hour is when the manager of the restaurant kicks everyone out and let my boys eat and drink for free," said Dag, "it's kind of a major perk for being hired to protect a cove or small town."

"I see," I said.

I looked down and took a sip of my milk before taking a bite of my food. The eggs were nice and savory, just the way I liked it, and the bread was nice and warm too, I could only expect that it just came out of the oven... either that or it came out of the oven just before I... got here-never mind! I'm babbling again.

"Alright Sara-Beth, let's get down to business," said Dag, "you're a part of the Sea Wolves now, you're not an official member yet though, you're just an Initiate. So as an Initiate, I want to go over some ground rules in order for you to become one of us and rise through the ranks."

"Okay," I said.

"Now... normally I would have you undergo a quick training session with one of my elites, but after seeing how you handle yourself in a fight, that won't really be necessary," said Dag, "however, that will bring us to our next subject at hand."

"I guess that was the first thing he was going to say," I thought.

"You have the respect of the people now since you're one of us, but overtime, if you wish to acquire more respect, you have to earn it yourself, both from me and from the crew," said Dag, "the more respect you have, the more opportunities will be open for you to take and do whatever you want. But there's a catch, I don't want you to go on a killing spree that gives us a bad name. We're not assassins."

"Okay," I said, "anything else?"

"Yes, we're at war Sara-Beth, which means you have to be careful with whom you run into if you happen to be out on the seven seas by yourself one day. A lot of the pirate clans don't take kindly to one another."

"Sounds like a plan," I said with a smile, "but uh, Dag will I be going on any possibly missions- er, assignments with one of your crewmen?"

Dag looked at me and smiled.

"In time," he said.

"Excuse me Dag, am I interrupting?" asked a voice.

I turned and saw Balto approaching.

"Actually Balto, we just got finished talking," said Dag, "is there something that you want?"

"I was just wondering if I could borrow Sara-Beth when we get back to the lodge," said Balto.

I blushed, what did Balto have in store for me back at the lodge?

"May I ask what you need her for Balto?" asked Dag.

Balto walked over to me and pat me on the head.

"I want to get a taste of her skills in combat, just wanted to see if she's as... fierce-some as you say she is captain," he said.

"So soon?" I asked.

"Yeah, what's wrong, are you scared?" teased Balto.

I blushed brighter and let out a huff.

"I'm not scared," I said, "I spit at people who ask if I'm scared."

"Then you won't mind if we go one-on-one then," Balto said with a wink.

I felt my heart start to race.

"Uh... n-no, of course I won't mind," I said.

Just then, Balto gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, I let out a gasp of surprise.

"Cool," said Balto.

After breakfast, we all headed back to the lodge, from there Balto took me out back, where these guys had a sparring area set up. Balto tossed me a pair of wooden batons while he grabbed a single baton for himself, I couldn't believe how serious this guy was! He really wanted me to fight him!

"Whoa, wait a minute," I said, "Balto, why do you want to fight me?"

Balto smiled and gave his baton a quick twirl.

"I already told you at the restaurant, I want to see if you're as good as Dag says you are," he said.

Balto walked closer to me, causing me to back into a nearby weapons rack and blush. There he goes again, flirting with me.

"You know, if you're scared and you don't want to fight, I understand," he said.

I didn't know what to say next, I was just blushing and starting to breathe faster as Balto stared at me. Before I knew it, I bit my lip and knocked him away with a shoulder slam. Balto looked at me and smiled.

"That's what I was hoping for," he said with a chuckle.

Balto and I engaged each other, our batons swinging with incredible speed and brutal precision, the loud thwacks from our sparring tools nearly echoed throughout the whole cove as they made contact with each other numerous times. I didn't hold back either, I gave it everything I had just like before. As Balto and I fought, I could feel something inside me take over, it was like that same thing I felt during the battle with The Skull Duggary Pirates.

 _"Counter!"_ I thought.

Balto spun and struck at me with a powerful swing, but I caught his baton with a cross block, pushed the weapon back and countered with a double twist kick to his ribs. Balto stumbled and looked at me with a smirk on his face before lunging at me without any warning. I rolled out of the way and sprung at Balto with a spinning strike, swinging my batons numerous times and forcing him on his back foot. When I went for a twin strike with my batons, Balto ducked, and before I knew it, I felt something strike me right on the butt. I let out a yelp and shot a look at Balto, who was laughing.

"You thwacked my ass!" I snapped.

"You're lucky I didn't poke you there," he said as he gave his baton a quick flourish, "might I add Sara-Beth, for a girl who's incredibly skilled with two swords you sure seem pretty stiff."

I felt my cheeks get hot with anger.

"Excuse me? I'm not a stiff," I said.

Balto put his baton away and chuckled.

"Sara-Beth, I didn't just want to spar with you because I wanted to see how good you were with a weapon, I wanted to have a little fun," he said, "but the way you were fighting... never mind, just, forget this happened."

Balto headed inside the lodge, I put my batons away and let out a sigh. I'm not a stiff, sometimes I'm subtle and quiet, but I'm not a stiff.

 _"Why am I even over thinking this?"_ I thought.

I turned, headed inside the lodge and into my bedroom, where I flopped on the bed and looked up at the ceiling.

 _"Maybe Balto's right... I guess the death of my parents and... everything that followed afterwards kind of made me a stiff,"_ I thought as I let out a sigh.


	5. Chapter 4: Still a child

Chapter 4

Still a child

Two weeks later, Captain Dag and his crew took me on a trip to the Caribbean, the home of the pirates. I've never been to the Caribbean before, so this was another new experience for me. I will say this, I've never seen so many outlaws in one place. There weren't just pirates here either, there were also Spanish soldiers here as well.

"This place is so exotic," I said.

"If that's another word for "I've never seen so many shanties", then you're spot on," said Dag, "come on, let me show you around Havana."

I smiled and followed Dag and some of the other officers off of the ship. As we walked through the streets, I couldn't help but notice a number of Spaniards were staring at us. It made me nervous.

"Don't stare at the soldiers stiff, they might get suspicious," said Balto.

My cheeks went red with anger.

"I'm not a stiff," I said through gritted teeth, "will you drop it?"

"I would, but um... I can't," Balto said with a smirk.

I growled in anger as I followed everyone into a nearby bar. Inside, I saw scores of salty ol' sailors that looked like they came from every corner of the globe, I heard them tell stories about their time as privateers, fishermen, soldiers of the navy, and more.

"Stick with me," said Dag, "and whatever you do, don't do anything stupid. If you want, I'll even buy you a little something too."

I smiled and said, "Okay."

I followed Dag to the front of the bar, where he got me a mug of warm, sweet coconut milk. I never had coconut milk before, I had regular milk, but not coconut milk... especially when it's got a few spices to go with it. When I took a sip of my beverage, I smiled and felt my insides get all warm and cozy.

"Mmmm, so good," I said.

"I'm glad you like it," said Dag.

As I took another sip of my milk, I couldn't help but say something that's been weighing on my mind, "So what can you tell me about the Caribbean?"

"This place is known as the Pirate Republic, where people like us from all over the world come to seek new thrills and adventures almost every day," said Dag, "it's the one place where we can live free without any worries from the laws of men. Here, we follow our own laws... well codes to be more specific."

I smiled and said, "This place seems super cool. I wouldn't mind living here when I get older."

Dag gave me a pat on the head, I giggled. I liked it when he gave me a pat on the head, it reminded me of my father in a way. Just then, I picked up the sound of one pirate's voice at a nearby table, I turned and saw a pirate that stuck out from the rest of the group he was playing cards with: Black hat, a red rose, two cards in the rim. I recognized that pirate, it was Captain Blackheart.

"Tá sé am payback, bastaird tú (It's payback time, you bastard)," I thought.

I stood up and walked over to my target.

"HEY!" I called out.

Blackheart turned and looked at me as I approached, I must say, Blackheart might have looked older after five years, but he was still the same murderous marauder like I remembered.

"Can I help you lass?" he asked.

"Don't "lass" me you son of a bitch, don't tell me you've forgotten about me after five years," I growled.

Blackheart looked at me for about five minutes until he smiled and started laughing out loud. I didn't know what he thought was funny, but it was enough to make me want to pull out my flintlock and shoot him right in the face.

"I recognize you now, you're the daughter of that pirate lord and that whore you call a mother," he mocked.

I growled and grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt, Blackheart simply looked at me and laughed.

"Aw, did I strike a nerve?" he mocked.

"SARA-BETH!" I heard Dag call out.

I let Blackheart go and turned to see Dag run over to me.

"Sara-Beth what the hell are you doing?" he asked.

"This is him, this is the man that killed my mother and father," I said as I drew my flintlock, "and he's going to pay for it."

"Sara-Beth, what did I tell you about revenge?" asked Dag.

"I don't care! This is my one chance at revenge and dammit, I'm going to take it!" I barked as I held my flintlock at Blackheart's chest.

"Sara-Beth-"

"No, no, no," interrupted Blackheart, "let the little spitfire take a shot at me. It's only appropriate since I did wrong her five years ago."

I just held my flintlock at point blank range as Blackheart stood up and looked at me.

"What are you waiting for? Shoot me, you know you want to," he said.

I gripped my flintlock and gritted my teeth. I was so angry, I was so furious, I was so consumed with my rage towards this man that all I wanted to do was to pull the trigger and end his life. But something was wrong, why didn't I pull the trigger? Why didn't I kill him? Why didn't I end his life?

"Sara-Beth, don't do this," said Dag.

I didn't listen, but at the same time, I still didn't pull the trigger. Why couldn't I pull the trigger? Why!?

"What are you waiting for Sara-Beth? Kill me," said Blackheart.

I couldn't do it... no matter how much I wanted to pull the trigger, I just couldn't do it. It was all I could do except lower my head and put my flintlock away. Blackheart laughed.

"I knew you couldn't kill me just yet," he said, "even when you have nothing to lose. You're weak, you're nothing but a child who thinks she can take her revenge on the man that took away her parents by joining a group of pirates."

Captain Blackheart gave me a push and walked past me saying, "Don't worry though Sara-Beth, I can assure you that we'll cross path's again... really soon. Hey, hopefully then you'll have grown up a little more and build up the courage to kill me."

I snapped.

 _"That's it!"_ I thought with anger.

Without warning, I drew my flintlock again, aimed and fired. There was an eerie silence in the bar, I could feel everyone's eyes on me as I slowly lowered my weapon. Blackheart turned toward me and gave me a hard stare.

"You grazed me," he said.

"I meant to," I said.

Blackheart walked out of the building, leaving me to fall to my knees and cry. It was almost amazing on how quick my anger and rage was reduced to sadness. I turned to see Dag help me up.

"Sara-Beth..." he started to say.

"I couldn't do it," I sobbed, "I couldn't kill Blackheart... I couldn't take my revenge... I just couldn't Dag."

"Sara-Beth, you did the right thing," said Dag, "if you would've killed Blackheart, it wouldn't have satisfied you. All it would've done is leave you with an empty feeling in your chest, trust me I know, I've been there before."

I looked at Dag and gave him a hug.

"I'm so sorry," I sobbed, "I let my anger get the better of me again."

Dag smiled and hugged me back, it was a big, warm hug too.

"Don't worry though, I promise you that I will do everything in my power to mold you into the ultimate pirate," he said, "you have my word."

I looked at Dag and smiled as I wiped away my tears.

"Thank you, Dag," I said.

"Now come on, why don't I get you another mug of coconut milk?" he asked.

I smiled and nodded.

My first raid

After my encounter with Blackheart, we all headed back to the ship so we could explore a few more Caribbean islands before heading home, as we sailed to our next destination I sat in my room and looked out of my window, staring at the open ocean and letting my mind wander. Eventually, I stretched out on my bed and looked at the ceiling, I took off my coat and boots, but I left my hat on.

 _"Those mugs of coconut milk sure were good,"_ I thought, _"kind of filling too."_

As the hours slowly passed by, I started to get drowsy and I was about to fall asleep when someone knocked at my door.

"Come in," I said softly.

I was expecting it to be Dag, coming to see if I was doing okay, but I didn't hear my visitor say anything, instead I felt something slide up my bare left foot, causing me to curl my toes and let out a giggle. When I looked up to see who was in my room, I stood up fast. It was Balto.

"Oh my god, Balto," I said.

"Hey, kiddo, I kind of heard what happened," said Balto, "how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine... just a little... I'm just looking out of the window to see if I can't distract my mind," I said.

Balto gave me a somber smile and laid right next to me.

"Hey, can I say something?" he asked.

I blushed brightly.

"Um... s-sure you can," I said.

"That was a really gutsy move you did towards Blackheart, you know with firing your flintlock and grazing his shoulder," said Balto, "I guess you're not such a stiff after all."

I gave him a hard look.

"Oh come, I'm only trying to cheer you up," he said.

My expression softened and I let out a sigh, "Okay, I'll give you that one."

Balto smiled and gave me a poke on the nose.

"Listen, I'm also sorry for calling you a stiff too, I was just teasing," he said.

I smiled and said, "Yeah, I kind of figured that out myself."

"Did you? Did you really know?" he asked with a smirk.

I shook my head and said, "No, I'm not a mind reader."

Balto sat up on my bed and said, "You might not be a mind reader, but you are a bit of a sassy pants."

I felt my cheeks get hot again.

"Sassy!? I'm not sassy!" I snapped.

Balto laughed and smirked at me again.

"Is it always so easy to push your buttons?" he asked giving me a poke on the nose.

I gave Balto a look, it wasn't a sad, annoyed, or angered look, it was more of a curious look. Sure he was teasing, but I wasn't sure if he was doing it to be mean... I hope he's not trying to be mean, otherwise I'll have to punch him right in the jaw.

"What's wrong Sara-Beth? Cat got your tongue now?" he asked.

I noticed that Balto had leaned in a little closer when he asked me that question, it made my heart beat a little faster and it made me blush brightly.

"Stop that," I said.

"Stop what?" he asked.

"Stop teasing me," I said.

"Why? It's so much fun," he said as he leaned in closer, "besides, you look really cute when you're annoyed with me."

I felt myself breathing a little faster as Balto leaned in even closer, we were practically nose-to-nose with each other!

"Balto..." I started to say.

Balto shushed me and smiled.

"Come on, I heard that you have a crush on me Sara-Beth," he said, "why not show me a little proof?"

I felt myself try to back away, but Balto smiled and laid down right beside me again, he looked into my eyes... his big blue eyes.

"What makes you think I still have a crush on you... after you teased me?" I asked.

"Because if you didn't have a crush on me, you would've hit me already," he said, "now... what do you plan to do now that I have you here?"

I was cornered. I didn't know what to do, I didn't know where I could possibly escape. All I did was just look at Balto, an unsure expression on my face. At last, I could no longer resist the urge, and before I knew it, I leaned in and kissed him right on the lips. When I pulled back, Balto simply gave me a warm smile. With nothing to say, I pulled myself close to Balto and kissed him again... hey, it might not be an official "kiss" but what do you want from me? I'm only fifteen.

"Am I still a stiff?" I whispered.

"Give me a few more kisses and I'll have your answer," said Balto.

With that, I kissed Balto again and again, soon the two of us began cuddling and cooing in my bedroom until there was a knock at my door, snapping me out of my state of infatuation and looking Balto dead in the face like I did something horrible.

"Cad é an ag fuck tá mé ag déanamh (What the fuck am I doing)!?" I demanded.

Balto rolled on the floor and started laughing, I felt my cheeks flare red with anger and glared at him.

"What was that? Spanish or something?" he asked.

"I'm Irish-American you... you... snake-tongued weasel!" I snapped.

"What's with all the noise in here?" asked a voice.

I looked up and blushed brightly, it was Matthew. I heard Balto stifle a laugh, he must've seen my expression... jerk.

"Oh, uh... h-hi Matthew," I said sheepishly.

"Is there a problem here?" he asked.

"Nah, Sara-Beth and I were just talking," said Balto, "is something wrong?"

"We're approaching a Spanish galleon and we're preparing to raid it, Dag wanted to know if the new girl wanted to join in with us on a raid," he said.

I've never seen a bunch of pirates raid a ship before, but from what my father told me, they can get very violent, cannons going off, swords crossing each other, flintlocks being fired, it's like being in a war zone he says. I wanted to say no, but if I wanted to prove to Dag that I had what it took to be a pirate, then I needed to join in on this raid and show him what I was capable of.

"What the hell, I'm in," I said with a smile.

"Excellent, I suggest you get suited up then, the ship will be in range in about five minutes," said Matthew.

As soon as he left, Balto quickly planted another kiss on my cheek and walked out, saying, "Later."

I put my hand on my cheek and let out a huff, but the strangest thing was... I wasn't really mad at him... in fact, I couldn't find any reason why I would be mad at him, he didn't really do anything mean to me. What alarmed me a little, was feeling my heart beating faster than normal.

 _"Come on Sara-Beth, I know you like him, but there's no guarantee that he likes you back,"_ I thought as I shook my head, _"shake it off, just shake it off girl, you have a raid to get ready for."_

I hopped off of my bed, grabbed my boots, coat, swords and flintlocks and headed up to the main deck, where most of the crew was waiting. I looked and saw that Dag was at the wheel, he was wearing his full set of captain armor. I don't know what went through my mind, but before I knew it, I found myself walking up right next to him.

"How do these raids normally go?" I asked.

"First, we fly a false flag, let our target get the idea that we're one of them," said Dag, "when we're a few feet away from them, we wave our true colors right about... now."

I looked up and saw one of Dag's crewmen lower the Spanish flag and raise the Sea Wolf flag.

"Fire!" barked Dag.

Without warning, the air was filled with the sound of the broadside cannons going off, striking the side of the galleon. I could only imagine that the Spanish sailors were completely caught off guard by this sudden surprise attack that they've just endured.

"Sir, we've got a few clear shots open for us!" someone called out.

"Fire the swivel guns!" ordered Dag.

I looked and saw a couple of pirates man the swivel guns, which were miniature cannons, and fire on two key points on the ship, causing a small series of explosions that rocked the galleon. Suddenly, I felt the ship make a hard right and come right behind the enemy ship, I didn't know what Dag had planned, but I could only guess that he had some added firepower.

"Fire the forward cannons!" ordered Dag.

I felt the ship vibrate as two more cannons fired and struck the back of the ship. As much as I wanted to feel pity or remorse for seeing so many Spanish sailors getting killed on board their ship, I couldn't help but smile. Maybe it might be the atmosphere of being around these pirates, but I couldn't help except smile.

"Dag, the ship's crippled!" barked Gordon.

"Pull them down to hell lads!" roared Dag.

I turned to the sound of all of Sea Wolves let out a unified battle cry, at the same time, I saw a number of them through large boarding hooks over at the galleon and pull it over to us. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a lot of the Sea Wolves start jumping over to the enemy ship, sparking a massive fight. Without hesitating, I jumped onto the other side with them as well.

"This is way more intense than getting caught in the middle of a bar fight," I thought.

Suddenly, a Spanish soldier charged and swung his sword at me, I ducked, drew my flintlock and fired, shooting him in the back and killing him. Out of the corner of my eye, another soldier charged at me and prepared to drive his sword through my gut, but I drew my other flintlock and fired, shooting him in the heart and dropping him dead. After I put my flintlock back in my holster, I drew my swords and moved throughout the entire deck of the ship, making sure that no one could take the opportunity to get me from behind. Unfortunately, there was something much worse than someone trying to get you with your pants down: Shooters.

"I've got a clear shot on the girl!" I heard someone call out.

Thinking fast, I grabbed the nearest Spanish soldier and used him as a shield to protect myself from the gunshot. Without hesitating, I moved in on my opponent, when suddenly I was forced to duck as a naval ax came right for my neck. When I got back on my feet, I was immediately caught in a fight between these two soldiers.

"Aren't you a little young to be playing with swords?" the first soldier teased.

I growled and got in my battle stance.

"Why don't you engage me and find out?" I asked.

I heard the second soldier load his musket and take aim at the back of my head, when I turned around, I saw him go down. When I turned back towards the first soldier, he was also on the floor, dead. I turned to see Balto standing not too far from me as he put both of his flintlocks back in their holsters. I couldn't help but smile.

"You owe me one," he said as he went back to the battle.

I nodded.

"The captain! Someone find the captain!" I heard one of the Sea Wolves call out.

The captain? They must be talking about the captain of this ship, something tells me if the captain's killed, we'll win the fight. I looked around to see that everyone was busy with something important... except me... I was just standing around among the scorched deck and dead Spaniards. Just then, a foreign thought entered my head and before I knew it, I went below deck.

 _"Maybe if I find the captain and kill him, Dag might give me a promotion,"_ I thought, _"at least I hope."_


	6. Chapter 5: Not a child anymore

Chapter 5

Not a child anymore

As I went down into the lower decks and rounded a corner, I nearly had my head get cut off by another naval ax. Luckily, I ducked just in time before I endured that... horrible, graphic fate. Unfortunately, as I rose, I heard someone come up behind me and nearly split my head open with a sword. I rolled out of the way, drew my swords, and got in a battle stance again.

"Bring it on," I said.

The first soldier came at me again with his ax, I jumped back, grabbed his weapon with my swords, pulled and threw him into the wall, stunning him. Without hesitating, I kicked my opponent in the jaw, and slashed him across the throat, killing him dead. The second soldier came at me with another swing, but I caught his attack with a cross block, kicked him in the side of the knee and drove both of my blades through his gut, killing him dead. I looked at my hands.

 _"Is this really some kind of gift I inherited from my father?"_ I thought.

I dismissed the question and headed towards the captain's quarters. As I prepared to open the door, I stopped, I was unsure if the captain was expecting me or not. If he was expecting me, I would be met with a bullet to the heart. If he wasn't...

 _"I'd better reload,"_ I thought.

I quickly reloaded my flintlock pistols and prepared to go in... slowly. Sure enough, as I turned the handle, I quickly dropped to the floor as a bullet came through and hit the wall. The son of a bitch was expecting me. I busted the door open and fired my first flintlock at the captain, I missed.

"Too slow!" barked the captain.

Before I knew it, the ship captain swung on me, forcing me to duck and roll out of the way as I was met with a series of lightning fast swings. As he swung on me again, I blocked his attack, pushed him away and slammed him into the wall with a shoulder tackle. The ship captain let out a pained grunt as I slammed my shoulder into his ribs and kicked him in the side of the leg, bringing him down to one knee and allowing me to run out of the captain's quarters. As I headed back up to where the fighting was going on, I noticed that a lot of the Spanish sailors had been captured and were being held... well, at gunpoint... or some other word I can't really think of and-oh jeez!

"Die!" barked the ship captain.

I rolled out of the way and drew my swords again, I lunged at the ship captain, and started slashing with lightning fast speed and delivering a good twist kick to his chin and another kick to his jaw, bringing him down to one knee. I held my swords at my opponent's neck in a scissor formation, looking down at him and grinning from ear-to-ear.

"I like the way you die, boy," I said with a wink.

With a quick motion, I cut the ship captain's head off, killing him. I looked over at my friends and saw that Dag was giving me a smile of approval.

"Gentlemen! Your captain has been slain and your ship is crumbling, as we speak," said Dag, "I give you two options: You can either join us and fork over all of your loot, or we can take your loot and you all go down with the ship."

I looked at each of the soldiers, none of them spoke a single word.

"Dag, I don't think either of them speak English," I said, "do you have anyone here speak Spanish and English?"

"That would be me," said one of the Sea Wolves, "the name's Cecelia Martin."

"Thank god, I thought she was going to say "Mendez"," I thought.

"Allow me to translate Captain," said Cecelia, "Señores! Su capitán ha sido asesinado y su barco está en ruinas, mientras hablamos. Te doy dos opciones: puede unirse a nosotros y tenedor sobre todo su botín, o que puedo tomar su botín y todos ustedes hundirse con el barco (Gentlemen! Your captain has been slain and your ship is crumbling, as we speak. I give you two options: You can either join us and fork over all of your loot, or we can take your loot and you all go down with the ship)."

One of the Spanish soldiers stood up and said something to Cecelia, who then looked over at Dag and gave him a sheepish grin.

"Well?" asked Dag.

"Se puede decir que la pila humeante de suciedad Inglés que nunca vamos a unirse a este equipo, por lo que así nos pueden matar," said Cecilia, "he said, "You can tell that steamy pile of English filth that we'll never join this crew, so you might as well kill us"."

Dag shrugged and said, "Very well, I'm flexible."

And with that, we took everything we needed from the Spanish ship and sent it to the bottom of the ocean with a few cannon shots, killing all of the remaining souls on board. After the raid, we were back on course to our next destination... wherever that was.

"So... what'd you think?" asked Dag.

"Huh?" I asked.

"What'd you think of your first raid?" he asked.

"Oh... it was... exhilarating," I said, "and terrifying as all hell."

"True, but you fought just like you did that night during the fight with The Skullduggary Pirates: Fierce, fast, and smart," said Dag, "if I didn't know any better, I'd say you enjoyed the raid."

I blushed and looked down, I felt embarrassed, okay so maybe I enjoyed the raid; but I mean come on, the action, the adrenaline, the sword fighting, who wouldn't enjoy it?

"Okay... maybe I enjoyed the raid," I said.

"Ha-ha, that's what I like to hear," said Dag.

I turned and started to leave when I stopped and turned back towards Dag.

"Say Dag... where are we going exactly?" I asked.

"We're heading to Nassau, there's someone important I want you to meet," said Dag, "someone I think you'll get along with just fine."

"Who is it?" I asked.

Dag just looked at me and smiled.

"Patience," he said, "return to your quarters, I'll let you know when we arrive."

And with that, I went back to my room and quickly fell into a deep sleep. The raid was fun, but damn I was so tired. I'll say this though, I don't think everyone's going to call me a child anymore since I killed the ship captain on board that galleon.


	7. Chapter 6: Captain Kidd

Chapter 6

Captain Kidd

I was in a deep, restful sleep, aside from my boots that were removed before I laid down, I still had my entire attire on... well, not my "entire" attire per say, I had my boots, vest, coat, and hat off. All I had on was my skirt and my blouse. I turned in my sleep every few minutes or so sure, but I was mostly still.

Just then, I felt a light sensation on my nose, causing me to scrunch it up and turn over on my back. I felt the light sensation again, this time on my belly, I let out a soft giggle and smiled. Just then, the light sensation began to intensify and I started to giggle some more. Someone was tickling me.

"Mmm... hee-hee, stop, that tickles," I moaned, "stop... I'm trying to sleep... hee-hee."

The tickling stopped, causing me to slip back into my restful slumber. Suddenly, the tickling came back; and it was a lot more intense than before, causing me to wake up laughing.

"NOHOHOHOHOHO, I SAID STAHAHAHAHAHAP!" I cried out, "STAHAHAHAHAP! I CAN'T TAHAHAHAHAKE IT!"

The tickling stopped, I fell back on my bed and looked to see one of the crew members staring down at me. She looked about my age... a little older though possibly, she had black hair, blue eyes, and she had a mischievous smile on her face.

"Hi, I'm Sabrina," she said, "sorry I woke you up like that, I just couldn't resist."

"No worries... that was fun," I said breathlessly, "did Dag send you?"

Sabrina nodded.

"He wanted me to tell you that we've arrived at Nassau," she said, "he wants you to go see him right away."

I hopped out of bed, threw on my clothes and stepped out into the sunlight. I covered my eyes, and waited for my sight to adjust.

"Feels like I was out for the rest of the day, yesterday," I thought.

I looked around the deck of the ship, no one was on board.

"Good morning!" I heard someone call out.

I turned and saw Dag waving for me to come over to him, so naturally, I did.

"How long was I out?" I asked.

"You fell asleep when you went to your room yesterday, we managed to arrive at Nassau by the evening, but when I heard about your status I decided that we should weigh anchor and let everyone get some rest," he said, "now that you're awake though, I can finally take you to see a good friend of mine. Come on."

I followed Dag through the town, just like Havana, it was crawling with soldiers and pirates. These pirates seemed a lot more vicious though, I couldn't tell if it was because of them having one-to-many to drink or if that's how they were in general.

"So who are we going to see again? You never told me," I said.

Dag didn't say anything, I just kept following him until we arrived at a nearby pub, where I actually had the luxury to witness a post-drunken pub fight.

"Well, well, well, the leader of the Sea Wolves," said a voice, "aren't you a sight for sore eyes old man."

I turned to see a young man sitting at a table with another pirate. It seemed strange though, it sounded like the man who was sitting at the table had the voice of a woman for a second.

"Captain James Kidd, still the wily, cutthroat pirate like your father," said Dag.

I was shocked. James Kidd? The James "Mary Read" Kidd? I heard that I was going to meet someone important not someone my father told me about when I was five!

"So who's the princess?" asked James.

I shot a glare at James.

"Princess!? I'll have you know that I'm Sara-Beth Ravenswood, daughter of the late Captain Rowland Ravenswood, and I'm no princess you stuck-up, snob-nosed brat," I said in a firm tone.

James looked at me and smiled.

"James Kidd, at your service," she said holding out her hand.

"Wait... so I insult you and you want to shake hands?" I asked.

"Of course, I wouldn't want to be friends with some princess, from the Sea Wolves," said James, "plus, you seem to have a hot, bright fire in your eyes. I only see that kind of fire in members of our order."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Order? What do you mean order?" I asked.

James looked over at Dag and he looked over at her.

"You didn't tell her?" she asked.

"No, and neither did Rowland," he said.

I was confused.

"Tell me what?" I asked, "what are you guys talking about?"

Dag sighed and looked at me.

"Sara-Beth, remember when I mentioned how you have a unique gift?" he asked.

I nodded.

"You inherited that gift from your father," he said.

I raised an eyebrow.

"What?" I asked.

"Sara-Beth, your father wasn't just the most notorious pirate on the seven seas, he was also one of the greatest assassins in our order," said James.

"Assassin?" I asked, "what's an assassin?"

"The assassins are a secret society of warriors who've dedicated their lives to preserving the peace of mankind since before you were born," said Dag, "I know this because I'm a member of the assassins as well. James is a member of the assassins as well."

I turned and saw James reveal a bizarre crest that was printed on her right bracer.

"This is our symbol," she said.

"Wait, wait, wait, I thought you were a pirate," I said, "no... I heard you were a pirate."

"I am," said James, "whenever I'm not taking care of assignments for the brotherhood, I do a little piracy on the side."

I hesitated to ask, not because I didn't know how to say it, but because I didn't want to know the answer to the question I had for Dag and James.

"You say my father was an assassin, then what does that make Captain Blackheart?" I asked.

James and Dag looked at each other and then they looked at me.

"A Templar," said Dag, "the enemy of the assassins."

Yep, I was right, I didn't want to know the answer to the question I had I had for the two of them.

"What separates the assassins from the templars?" I asked.

"The templars only desire power, wanting nothing more than to enslave mankind for their own selfish desires," said Dag, "even before he became a Templar, Captain Blackheart was a long time enemy of your father, crossing paths with him on more than one occasion, their clashes kept getting more intense each time, so much that we thought that they had forgotten what they were fighting for."

"But why does Blackheart hate my father? What the hell did he even do to make that man go and... kill him?" I asked.

Dag and James paused for a minute, before the latter finally spoke.

"Blackheart actually didn't always "hate" your father, they used to be rivals," said James, "it wasn't until your mother came around though, that their rivalry turned into hatred."

"What happened?" I asked.

"Blackheart believed that your father stole your mother from him many years ago," said Dag, "Blackheart didn't know that your mother had feelings for your father until she caught the two of them out together one night. After what he had just witnessed, Blackheart's rivalry attitude turned into hatred."

I didn't respond, I let them continue.

"When you're mother and father got married and had you, that was it, Blackheart went to the templars one day, he begged for them to give him the resources needed to take his revenge, and... well, I'm sure I don't need to remind you of what happened next," said Dag.

I didn't speak, not because I didn't know if they had more to say, but because I didn't know what to say. Blackheart killing my father because he believed that my mother was stolen from him?

"Sara-Beth?" asked Dag.

I looked up at Dag, a blank expression formed on my face.

"I... I... I need a drink," I said.

"Warm butter milk!" Dag called out.

I turned to see a stewardess walk over and place a mug of warm butter milk on the table. I slowly reached out, took the buttermilk and took a small sip from it, the milk was nice, thick, and creamy, enough to make my insides feel all nice and warm.

Dag, James, and I all sat at the table in silence for thirty minutes... well until I finished all of my butter milk, which took thirty minutes... at least I think it took... thirty minutes-never mind! Never fucking mind!

"Are you feeling alright?" asked Dag.

I looked up at Dag, with that same blank expression.

"Do I look alright?" I asked in annoyance.

Dag looked at me with a hint of shock.

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to speak in a disrespectful tone," I said.

"Sara-Beth, if you're upset, you have every right to be upset," said James, "I would be too if I was-"

James stopped short and looked around.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

Suddenly, I saw James draw her flintlock and fire a shot at someone nearby, in less than a split second, a man took off full speed from the pub, entering the town.

"Who was that?" I asked.

"A Templar scout!" exclaimed James, "we've got to stop him!"

If that guy who just ducked out really was a Templar, I'll be dammed if he's going to evade me, especially if he's possibly one of Blackheart's guys.

"I'll get him James," I said as I rose from my chair.

"Wait," she said, "you'll need these."

James opened up her knapsack and pulled out a pair of bracers... no... knives, some type of wrist knives, she handed them to me. I looked at the odd weapons and slipped them on, with a flick of my right wrist, a blade extended. I poked the tip and smiled at how sharp the blade was.

"Thanks James," I said.

As I prepared to take off, I heard Dag call out, "Take to the rooftops!"

I paused for a quick second and looked up at the rooftops, I didn't want to take Dag's suggestion into consideration because... well, it seemed insane, but something told me that taking the rooftops was something an assassin would do. So...

"Let's take the rooftops," I thought.

I headed up to the roof of the nearest shanty and continued my pursuit after the Templar, whom was still trying to make his way out of town, which I was most certainly not going to have as long as I'm still hunting down his cowardly little ass. I ran as fast as I could, I jumped from rooftop to rooftop, ensuring not to lose sight of my target until finally...

"He's not trying to head to a ship that's docked for him nearby. He's running towards something else," I thought as I jumped to another rooftop.

Sure enough I was right, when I jumped down to the ground below, I saw the Templar make his way towards the church. I smiled.

"A target who leads the hunter to a church, so that way when he/she dies, there's no hassle with trying to find the body," I thought with a grin, "that's a smart move."

It was right then and there though, that I might've been a little too overconfident, because as I made my way to the church and I went through those double-doors, inside I saw not one, but at least twenty pirates... no... mercenaries. Judging by their clothes, something told me that they were more of Blackheart's cronies.

"So... you're the daughter of the Raven Lord himself," said one of the pirates, "Captain Blackheart really was right after all."

I rolled my eyes.

"Chun an grá ag fuck (For the love of fuck)," I said with annoyance, "how do you guys know my father?"

"We've heard a lot of the stories that Captain Blackheart tells us every now and again," said the Templar, "you know I must say, when he assigned me to find you and kill you, he never mentioned on how you were a bit... reckless at times."

I felt my cheeks get hot.

"Reckless? I'll show you reckless you Templar bastard," I said in a firm tone.

As I reached for my flintlock, a heard a rifle go off, the pellet flew across the room and hit the door behind me, causing me to jump.

"The next shot goes right into your knee girl," said another pirate.

"Like this?" asked a voice.

I turned around to see Dag fire his pistol at the pirate and hit him right in the knee, the pirate fell over screaming and clutching his bleeding wound, not to mention cursing like there was no tomorrow. I smiled when I saw James Kidd make an entrance as well, she came in from one of the church windows and fired on a nearby pirate, striking him in the chest and killing him dead.

"How did you guys know I was in trouble?" I asked.

"We didn't," James said with a smile.

I looked at Dag, who gave me a sheepish smile and said, "She's right, we really didn't know you were in trouble, we just followed closely to make sure you took out the target."

"Who knew that we would stumble upon a group of Captain Blackheart's personal Templar forces here in Havana," said James.

Before I could say anything, I heard one of Blackheart's men bark, "Assassins! Kill the dammed assassins!"

"Shit," I said.

In a split second, I ducked for cover as I heard muskets and flintlocks go off in all directions, the air was also soon filled with the sound of swords clashing with each other as Templars went head-to-head with the Assassins... or Assassin Pirates... either or, I don't really know.

"I think I might want to sit this one out," I thought as I backed towards the church doors.

When I turned around, I heard a flintlock round fly past my right ear, I turned around again and saw a Templar charging at me with a sword in his hand. I drew my swords and blocked his first strike.

 _"This guy looks like a common soldier,"_ I thought as I shoved my opponent back a few steps, _"I can't let that boost my confidence too much though, even the weakest opponents can put up a fight... just like my father taught me."_

Sure enough, the Templar soldier struck again, lashing out with a flurry of swings as he tried to land a blow on me. I might not have had as much training in swordplay like Dag or James; but I wasn't about to get shown up, I blocked and parried each of the Templar's attacks with relative ease, my blades moving with the flow of the fight. When I blocked my opponent's next series of attacks, I jumped back as he attempted to deliver a thrust to my gut, I jumped at the Templar again with a flurry of slashes from my swords, forcing him to move on to his back foot. Unfortunately, when I went for another cross cut/downward slash combo, the Templar dodged both of my strikes and struck me right in the face with the hilt of his sword, causing me to stumble. I heard the Templar laugh at me.

"Tell mommy and daddy that Lieutenant Quinton sent you," he said as he approached me.

I gritted my teeth and rose.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" I roared.

I lunged at Quinton, slamming my shoulder into his chest and knocking him back twelve steps, before he could recoup I lunged at him again, my swords turning into blurs of shining steel as I struck again and again, putting Quinton on the defensive. When we got in a sword lock, Quinton pushed me back and went for an upward slash; but I spun to the left and with two quick slashes, I got Quinton in the arm and in the side of the ribs causing him to go down on one knee and then fall over. I sheathed my swords and marched over to him.

"Ugh... heh-heh, Blackheart said that you were just a hapless girl with little-to-no skills in swordplay," said Quinton, "I guess he was wrong ... to an extent that is."

I got down on one knee and picked up Quinton by the collar of his shirt.

"Éist liom duit píosa de cac (Listen to me you piece of shit), where's Blackheart? How did he know where I was? Tell me!" I demanded.

Quinton gave a weak chuckle.

"Foolish girl," he said, "Blackheart didn't tell me where to find you idiot, he just told me and some of the other lieutenants to keep an eye out for you."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Blackheart told us how you grazed him," said Quinton, "he told us how you fired and nearly killed him. Since that day he was worried that you eventually learn about your family heritage and start honing your skills to the point where you would eventually become a major threat to him as well as the rest of his crew. So he told us to spread out and eliminate you if you ever showed your face on one of these islands."

"Other lieutenants? You mean there's more agents out there?" I asked.

Quinton chuckled again.

"Blackheart has eyes everywhere child," he said, "welcome to the war."

I growled in anger as Quinton started chuckling again. Not wanting to hear another second of his chuckling, I took my right wrist blade and stabbed the bitch right in the lung, I watched as his life ebbed away in my hands.

"Má thagann mé trasna níos mó gníomhairí Templar, beidh siad freastal ar an chinniúint chéanna (If I come across anymore Templar agents, they'll meet the same fate)," I said, "An chuid eile i síocháin, fucker mháthair (Rest in peace, mother fucker)."


	8. Chapter 7: Meeting the Assassins

Chapter 7

Meeting the assassins

"Sara-Beth!" Dag called out.

I turned and saw Dag and James run over to me. Aside from a few bruises and cuts on their person, these two didn't look too banged up.

"Whoa, you look like someone broke up with you," said Dag.

"What happened?" asked James.

"Apparently I've been declared a threat by Captain Blackheart," I said.

"A threat?" asked James.

I nodded.

"Apparently, me grazing him with that shot from my flintlock was enough to scare him," I said, "now he's deployed his lieutenants to keep an eye out and eliminate me if I show my face out in public."

Dag frowned.

"I was afraid of this," he said, "you shouldn't have fired on him Sara-Beth, if Blackheart is sending his lieutenants out to hunt you, then I won't get a chance to help hone your skills into a highly trained swords-woman."

"I wouldn't get to upset about this old man," said James, "sure she fired on a Templar Assassin Hunter and has been marked as a threat; but I see this as an opportunity."

"Opportunity? How?" asked Dag.

James turned and walked over to me.

"It's time we show you what we're all about Sara-Beth, time to see if you are indeed the daughter of the Raven Lord," said James.

I raised an eyebrow.

"James, no, we can't take her to the grand-master, she's not ready," said Dag.

"Not unless if we tell him about her first Templar kill," James said with a smile.

Dag grumbled under his breath and shook his head.

"Alright fine, you sneaky little weasel, I'll take her there," said Dag.

"Good man," said James.

James turned to me and gave me a soft pat on the cheek.

"You're good Sara-Beth, I like you, I really do," she said, "it's a shame I can't stay, I have more important matters to attend to."

"Um... okay," I said.

James chuckled and said, "Take good care of this one Dag, she seems like a keeper."

James walked off, leaving me and Dag standing by ourselves in silence for a good five minutes.

"I don't know why, but James kind of rubs me in a weird way," I said.

"She'll do that," said Dag.

We stayed in Nassau for a good fourteen days until we set sail once again, during my time in Nassau, Dag and some of his officers trained me in the ways of the sword, they taught me how to be a better marks-woman, I learned how to run faster, jump higher, and be more fluid in combat, the very key qualities that makes a person a deadly assassin; which by the way I took some time to ask Dag about whenever I wasn't training.

Since I've been inadvertently sucked into this so-called "war", I figured the least I could do is learn more about my enemy. Another two weeks passed, with not much excitement happening, during which I spent my free time training with more of Dag's officers, whom I found out were also members of this secret order of Assassins. The training was a tad brutal, but I've endured a lot of the punishment that was thrown my way.

Whenever training was over, I would go to my room and fall asleep for the rest of the day. One day, things finally got exciting... well, to a degree... let me explain. It all started on a warm, sunny day, things were going slow, so I thought I'd head up onto the deck and look out over the open water.

"The sea is so beautiful, I remember when my father would take me out on the sea when I was little," I thought to myself, "he would always hoist me up in the air and make me feel like I was flying."

I was starting to go deep into my thoughts as I felt the calm breeze against my face and smelt the salt of the sea waft into my nose, it wasn't until someone went and grabbed me by my ass, making me gasp and blush. I turned to see Balto look over the ship right beside me.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Templar killer," he said with a smile.

"Hi Balto," I said, "so you heard about what I did?"

"The whole crew knows," said Balto, they know about you killing that Templar, they know about Blackheart sending his lieutenants out to hunt you down and kill you, they even heard about you possibly joining some secret society of warriors called Assassins."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, who told you guys all of that?" I asked.

"Dag did," said Balto.

"Right... that was a stupid question on my part," I said.

Balto gave me a warm smile.

"It wasn't stupid, you just didn't know, there's a difference kiddo," he said as he nudged me.

I smiled back at Balto. As much as I didn't want to tell anyone, I kinda liked the kid, sure he was a bit rude, crude, mean, and had a bit of a bad sense of humor; but he was also a bit charismatic and charming at times whenever he was with me. Unfortunately, I failed to notice that I was deep in thought and before I knew it, I heard Balto chuckle.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing, it's just that you're turning almost as red as your hair," said Balto.

I let out a muffled gasp, I didn't even realize I was blushing. I looked away, Balto chuckled and moved closer.

"Don't be ashamed, it's cute," he said, "it shows people that there's a sweet and innocent girl under that grit."

I blushed deeply and let out a giggle. Okay, I really liked this kid, I mean I've never met a guy who was so sweet towards a girl like me. Everything was going really smoothly until I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned and saw Dag standing behind me, there was something different about him though, he wasn't in his traditional "Captain's Attire", he was garbed in a set of armored hooded robes. Was this something that he's worn before he became a pirate captain? I honestly didn't know.

"We're here," he said, "Balto, you and the other officers watch the ship, we'll be right back."

"Whoa, wait, "we"?" I asked.

Dag didn't answer, instead he leaped from the ship and onto shore. I looked at Balto, who just gave me a shrug. I shook my head and jumped to shore as well, problem is I landed face first into the sand, unlike Dag, who tumbled onto the sand when he landed. I got up and dusted myself off.

"You okay?" asked Dag.

"Yeah, I love the taste of sand in my mouth," I said, "Dag, what is this place?"

"Patience Sara-Beth, all of your questions will be answered soon," said Dag, "now follow me, and stick close."

I shook my head and followed Dag into the marsh.

 _"Cén fáth go bhfuil sé chomh deacair a fháil freagra díreach amach as mo allies (Why is it so hard to get a straight answer out of my allies)?"_ I thought.

Dag and I quietly moved through the marsh, gingerly brushing through the dense vegetation, I was deathly confused, why the hell were we sneaking through this place? I didn't see any-

"Don't move," whispered Dag.

I stopped and looked around, I didn't see anyone or anything at first, until I saw someone across from Dag and I, the person was dressed like Dag; but he didn't appear to have much armor. I slowly reached for my flintlock and took aim...

"NO!" Dag ordered in a loud whisper.

"What?" I whispered.

"That's an Assassin," he said.

"Well that gives me all the more reason to drop the bastard," I said.

"Sara-Beth, no! If you shoot your flintlock, the Assassin's will be right on top of us," whispered Dag, "let me go in and draw their attention, you continue on ahead."

I was shocked!

"No! Wha-NO!" I protested, "I don't even know where to go Dag!"

"Don't worry, just let your instincts guide you," he said, "just find Captain Kidd, and I'll catch up later."

Before I could protest again, Dag took off, leaving me all alone. I groaned and shook my head.

"Why me? Why do you hate me fate?" I thought miserably.

I continued on without Dag, moving through the marsh quickly and quietly, making sure not to alert the other assassins of my presence. I must add that I was deeply tempted to just snap one of their necks while they weren't looking; however, I remembered what Dag told me, so I refrained from causing any deep shit to hit the ceiling. All things aside, I managed to finally find Captain Kidd, who was waiting gingerly at a nearby monument. I frowned.

"Well, well, I was afraid you wouldn't show," she said with a smirk.

"Wouldn't show!?" I demanded, "le haghaidh an grá cac (for the love of shit) Kidd, this place is crawling with your best friends, those... Assassins!"

James gave me a pat on the cheek.

"You're still here aren't you?" asked James.

"Well... yeah, but only because Dag would draw the first group of Assassin's attention," I said embarrassingly, "oh and by the way, what the fuck is this place?"

"The first and last place you'll ever want to be," said a voice.

I whirled around fast and saw another Assassin approach, without thinking, I drew my flintlock.

"Don't!" protested James.

The Assassin grabbed my wrist, twisted it, forced my arm behind my back, and knocked me over with a good kick to my stomach. I quickly got up and lunged at the Assassin with my right wrist blade, but my opponent caught my attack and forced me to my knees.

"Where did you get these weapons?" asked the Assassin.

"Argh!.. They're mine," I grimaced.

"Mentor, stop, this is the girl I told you about," said James, "the one Captain Blackheart's after."

 _"Mentor!?"_ I thought in disbelief.

The Assassin looked at me and let go, I jumped to my feet.

"Sara-Beth, this is my mentor, Ah Tabai," said James, "mentor, this is Sara-Beth Ravenswood."

"The daughter of The Raven Lord," said Ah Tabai.

Just then, Dag appeared out of nowhere and approached us, I gave him a hard look and folded my arms.

"Sara-Beth, you're still alive," he said with a smile.

"No thanks to you, ya ochtapas sleazy (ya sleazy octopus)," I said firmly.

Ah Tabai turned to Dag.

"Master Dag, you know this girl?" he asked.

"Master!?" I thought in disbelief, "Íosa Críost (Jesus Christ) he really is an Assassin."

"Yes, Mentor Tabai, she's a part of my crew," said Dag, "she might look young yes, but she's inherited her father's skills as a fighter, I and my other officers have been training her as much as possible to make her into a formidable fighter."

Ah Tabai looked at me, I looked down at the ground.

"And to answer your question, mentor, those hidden blades were my spares," said James, "I let her borrow them so she could kill a Templar scout."

Ah Tabai scoffed.

"You shouldn't have handed them to her," he said, "she's a child with unkempt skills and little to no training."

My cheeks went hot.

"Now wait just a second there, Mr. Sunshine," I said firmly.

"Sara-Beth, no, no," said Dag.

"Look, I respect you for being the leader of this group of roustabouts-"

"Uncalled for," interrupted James.

"-but I won't stand here while you criticize me for not being a deadly Assassin like my father you got it?" I asked, "I didn't ask to be an Assassin, I didn't ask to come here and meet you, I just wanted to make sure Captain Blackheart tastes justice for what he did to me and my family!"

There was an eerie silence, I looked around and saw a few more Assassins approach me. I looked at Dag, he had a concerned look on his face, I looked at James, who seemed a little concerned herself, finally I looked at Ah Tabai, who was giving me a blank stare. Finally, after five minutes, James stepped up.

"Mentor-"

Ah Tabai threw his hand up, turned, and left, along with the other assassins. I looked back at Dag and James.

"You guys are disappointed in me aren't you?" I asked.

Dag shook his head.

"Not okay," he said, "okay? Not okay."

James let out a sigh and shook her head too.

"Well... you've got some big brass ones for standing up to my mentor," she said, "however... I just hope that he doesn't think about throwing you behind bars for that line of disrespect."

"Give me some time to talk to Ah Tabai and tell him the situation," said Dag, "in the meantime, you stay with James. Oh, and another thing Sara-Beth.?"

"Yes?" I asked.

"Don't do or say anything reckless," said Dag.

Dag left, leaving me with James Kidd.

"So..." I said, swinging my arms back and forth.

"Come with me, I want to show you something," she said.


	9. Chapter 8: Ravenswood Manor

Chapter 8

Ravenswood Manor

I followed James through the Assassin Headquarters, as we passed through the training area, I saw scores of Assassins sparring with one another.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"There's someplace I want to show you," said James.

I rolled my eyes and kept following James, I followed her up a hill... no, steps, two sets of steps and towards a shanty. No... a house... no a mansion, if that. I gasped when I saw the design... the decor, it was beautiful.

"What is this place?" I asked.

"Ravenswood Manor," said James, "this was your father's home when he was with the Assassins."

"How did he manage to earn something like this?" I asked.

"By proving himself, showing his skills in battle, you know... oh wait, never mind, you don't know much about the Assassins," teased James.

My cheeks went red, I balled my hands into fists.

"Téigh ag fuck duit féin (Go fuck yourself)," I said in a firm tone.

I followed James into my father's house, I gasped in awe when I saw the interior.

"Máthair Dé (Mother of God)," I thought.

The walls were painted white and sky blue, there was an assortment of paintings as well as a few priceless statues on the shelves, it had a beautiful dining room, a kitchen, a living room, a basement (then again it might've been a den). And when James and I headed upstairs, I gasped again when I saw the master bedroom.

"My father had a guest room?" I asked.

"He wasn't just a deadly Assassin, he was also quite the handsome pirate," said James, "he attracted a lot of women whenever he was out. Other times though, the other Assassins would come here just to spend some time with your father."

I looked at James.

"Spend time with him? You say that like he was always by himself," I said.

"He was," she said, "your father was the solitary type whenever he was with the Assassins, always by himself, didn't talk to the others, the only people who knew about his life were me, Dag, and Ah Tabai."

James and I went into the master bedroom, where we saw my father's most prized trophy: A glass case that contained his own robes.

"Whoa," I said in surprise.

"Those were your father's Master Assassin robes," said James, "he earned those after many years of training and hard work. When he earned the rank of master, your father started training some of his most loyal crew members in the art of assassination."

I looked over at James as I placed my hand on the case.

"What do you know about my father James?" I asked.

James pondered for about five minutes, then she finally spoke...

"Your father was a man with a troubled past," said James, "he was a captain serving in the king's royal navy, he led his forces against the Spanish on a number of fronts, the problem is he didn't like the pay he was receiving from completing his missions."

"Okay, I know this is going to come off as a stupid question, but why?" I asked.

James chuckled.

"Your father was a poor man living in the poor district of England before you were born," she said, "even before he became a naval soldier, he wasn't receiving any fair pay during his time as a fisherman. It wasn't until though that your father made contact with the Order… in a sordid way of course."

"Sordid way?" I asked.

James nodded.

"Your father killed a man, a Templar by the name of Damian Knight, who was on a mission to obtain some supplies from the British navy in order to bolster their troops in the war against us," said James, "your father didn't know though, he just saw Damian talking to a British Officer, he walked over to see what was in the crates beside him when Damian walked away, one thing led to another and then… boom, dead Templar."

"Was Ah Tabai mad?" I asked.

James shook her head.

"No, but the Assassin who was sent to kill Damian was," she said, "in fact, the Assassin was so pissed he brought your father before my mentor and demanded he be executed. My mentor thought otherwise, seeing that your father had some exceptional skills for holding his own against a Templar and defeating him… even after taking a bit of a beating from him at first."

I sat down on my father's bed as James leaned up against the wall and continued.

"My mentor gave your father an offer to join the Assassins, which he accepted; but only provided that he would allow a friend of his to join as well," said James.

"Who?" I asked.

Before James could answer, someone came up the steps. I turned my head to see Ah Tabai and Dag enter the room.

"Mentor?" asked James.

"Dag, what's wrong?" I asked.

"We have a major problem," said Dag.


	10. Chapter 9: A piece of inheritance

Chapter 9

A piece of inheritance

"Oh my god, the Assassins, the crew," I said fearfully, "how did this happen? How did those British find us?"

"Those aren't British," said James, "British soldiers don't have armbands and they sure as hell don't have black and red military coats."

I gasped in shock. Those were Blackheart's forces… no, those weren't just Blackheart's forces, one of his lieutenants must be here.

"One of Blackheart's lieutenants must be here," I said, "I don't suppose you could find anyone who hasn't been captured and send them in to… go on a killing spree Ah Tabai?"

"That's _Master_ Tabai, to you child," he said firmly, "and no, a number of our forces were captured or killed by these Templar soldiers. If we send however many we have left down there to take them out, the conflict would surely end in a blood bath."

"Bhuel cac (Well shit)," I said, "there must be something we can do."

"There is: You're going to set those men and women down there free," said Ah Tabai.

I looked at the Assassin Grandmaster like he was crazy.

"Are you mad!? I can't go down there by myself!" I exclaimed.

"Your captain says that you're Rowland's daughter, that you have the same traits of a true Assassin," said Ah Tabai, "if what he says is true, then you should have no problem freeing your friends _and_ my Assassins."

I whirled around at Dag.

"Dag come on, you've got to back me up here," I pleaded.

Dag shook his head.

"If Master Tabai wants to see you in action, I can't interfere," he said.

I groaned.

"Fuck dom ... fuck dom, fear ... fuck dom (Fuck me… fuck me, man… fuck me)," I said, "alright, fine, I'll do it."

Before I took off, James walked over and handed me two items: A bow and a quiver of arrows.

"Take these," she said, "they were your fathers, it's a lot quieter and will help keep you from getting spotted."

I strapped on the quiver and bow and prepared to move in before Ah Tabai stopped me.

"Take this," he said as he tossed something at my feet.

I picked the object up and unfolded it, I gasped: It was a set of robes, Assassin robes… except these weren't quite armored. I took off my hat and naval jacket and slipped the robes on.

"Represent us well, and maybe we'll talk," said Ah Tabai.

I nodded, threw on the hood, and moved in. Sliding down from the cliff side and moved in. Remembering my Assassin training with James and Dag, I used the shadows and shrubbery for cover as I slowly made my way towards the first group of prisoners that the Templars captured. I pulled out the bow, drew an arrow, pulled back, aimed…

 _"_ _Right in the neck,"_ I thought.

TWANG! I let the arrow fly from my fingers and got one of the Templar soldiers right in the neck, the Templar went down with a pained gasp, he twitched and coughed up spurts of blood, causing the rest of his buddies to go over and aid him. Without hesitating, I drew another arrow, pulled back, aimed, and fired. I shot the next Templar in the shoulder.

"Ouch! Son of a bitch!" he yelped.

 _"_ _Damn,"_ I thought.

I drew another arrow, pulled, aimed, and fired, shooting my target in the back and putting him down. The last Templar started getting scared, I stifled a giggle.

 _"_ _Is it psychotic of me that I'm actually enjoying this?"_ I thought as I put the bow away and moved in.

"Whoever you are! Don't come any closer! I'll kill these Assassins, I swear it!" he called out.

The hell if he is. I ejected my right Hidden Blade, waited, and charged. Before the Templar could turn and fire, I drove my blade into his back and stabbed him two more times, killing him. The Templar's body fell over with a thud, I looked at the Assassin prisoners and cut them free, when they rose and looked at me each of them gave me a look.

"Don't be so surprised boys," I said as I took off, "listen, I'm looking for a Templar Lieutenant, is he here?"

"He's over by the ship," said one of the Assassins, "go take care of him, we'll handle freeing everyone."

I nodded as they disappeared into the shadows, I looked towards the ship and tightened the hood on my head as I moved in. I continued staying hidden in the shadows, occasionally killing off any patrols that I came across when I moved through some thick brush towards my destination. When I was in range of the ship, I stepped out of the shadows and approached.

"Lieutenant Gabe, an Assassin approaches!" one of the Templars called out.

"Hold your fire men, this isn't just any Assassin," said Gabe, "so, that foolish Grandmaster sent you to take care of us all on your own. Tell me child, is he a madman, or does he enjoy using children as cannon fodder?"

"Mad? No," I said, "he just wants to see if I really am The Raven Lord's daughter."

I drew both of my flintlocks and aimed them at the two Templars, flanked at each of Gabe's sides. Gabe laughed.

"Two flintlocks? Child, there's three of us and you only have two shots," he said, "what's your plan? Kill these two and have us settle this dispute one on one?"

I smiled under my hood.

"No," I said.

I fired and killed both Templars, without hesitating, I drew the bow and an arrow, stepped forward, pulled and fired. When Gabe dodged the arrow, I threw the bow down, charged, ejected my Hidden Blades and drove them into Gabe's gut as I knocked him over.

"Tell me where the other Lieutenants are hiding, madra Templar (Templar dog)," I said.

"Heh, hiding? What happened to wanting to get your revenge on Blackheart?" asked Gabe.

"I don't care about Blackheart, just tell me where his Lieutenants are and how many are after me," I said.

"Heh-heh, eleven… eleven lieutenants," said Gabe, "but I'm not telling you where they're hiding. Don't worry though… with my death, they'll hunt for you even harder."

With his last breath, Gabe died in my arms. I sighed.

"Lig dóibh teacht go dtí mé más mian leo, ní féidir liom eagla ort guys ... Ní mó (Let them come for me if they want, I don't fear you guys... not anymore)," I said as I rose to my feet.


	11. Chapter 10: The hunt begins

Chapter 10

The hunt begins

I returned to Ah Tabai, James, and Dag, with Gabe's Templar cross necklace in hand and a small smile on my face.

"The Templar lieutenant is dead," I said, "I brought back his cross as proof."

"You are just like your father," said Aha Tabai, "he always brought back proof of his kill to me, it makes me smile to see that such a trait like that has been passed on down to you Sarah-Beth. Truly, you have the blood of the Assassin in your veins."

"Thank you," I said.

It seemed strange thanking this man, like something inside of me had fully awakened and… it didn't want to go back to sleep… was this what it was like for my father when he became an Assassin?

"No need to thank me child, it is I who should be thanking you and apologizing as well," said Ah Tabai, "it's only ever so rare that I underestimate individuals who bear the same qualities as their Assassin parent."

"I'll take that as a compliment," I said with a smile.

"She certainly has her father's charm," said James.

"Indeed," said Dag, "we should go, before anything else happens."

"Alright," I said, "uh… here, I suppose you'll be wanting these robes back."

"Keep them," said Ah Tabai, "think of them as a token."

"Keep the bow too, like I said, it was your father's," said James, "I'm sure he'd want you to have it."

I smiled.

"Thanks," I said as I turned and followed Dag to the ship.

Just then, something made me stop and turn around.

"What's your real name James?" I asked.

"Huh?" she asked.

"What's your real name?" I asked, "come on, we're practically friends, I won't blab if you tell me."

James looked at Dag, then she looked at me and walked over. James leaned towards me and in hushed tone she said, "Mary. Mary Read, why?"

I smirked.

"My father told me about the… friendship the two of you had," I said in a hushed tone.

James blushed, I chuckled.

"Tell anyone and I'll stick my blade in your throat," she warned.

"Ooo harsh words… princess," I teased.

James smirked and gave me a hearty pat on the shoulder.

"I'll catch you later, sister," she said as she walked away.

"Céad slán James (Farewell James)," I said.

Since that day I met the Assassins, life with Dag and his crew hasn't been the same for me, sure we still attacked cargo ships and plundered British warehouses on occasion, but the thing that changed most was my training. I didn't receive the usual training I've become accustomed to, at night Dag would take me out so I could receive Assassin training like he did during his youth, he and some of his officers… his former students taught me the skills needed in order to be an effective Assassin.

Days became weeks and weeks turned into months and months turned into years, I became faster, tougher, and smarter in battle. Thanks to the traits I inherited from my father, I became quite a fast learner in combat, so much that I earned the rank of Disciple by the time I reached the age of eighteen.

From that point on, Dag unleashed me on the ten remaining lieutenants belonging to Blackheart. As I took out my time, hunting down my targets one by one, I eventually forgot about my revenge on Blackheart himself, preferring to focus more on learning about my heritage and where these… Assassins came from.

Dag also taught me a little bit of philosophy as well whenever I trained with him at night, preferably one piece of philosophy that even had my father confused when he first joined the brotherhood: Nothing is true, everything is permitted.

"I don't understand," I said as I practiced my sword flourishes, "how is nothing true, but everything is permitted? That seems a little… confusing, don't you think? I mean if anything it sounds a bit misleading, especially for a pirate that's trained by Assassins."

Dag laughed.

"Your father said the exact same thing," he said, "the phrase isn't exactly a doctrine to follow, but more like an observation of the world."

I stopped and gave Dag a look.

"That doesn't help me still," I said.

Dag sighed.

"Many years ago… an old Assassin once spoke of that phrase in detail," he said as he rose and walked over to me, "he said, "To say nothing is true, is to realize that the foundations of society are fragile, and that we must be the shepherds of our own civilization. To say that everything is permitted, is to understand that we are the architects of our actions, and that we must live with their consequences, whether glorious or tragic". Do you understand now?"

I pondered for a minute before speaking.

"I have a feeling that this phrase is supposed to teach Assassins that they can't always follow the truths that the world has to offer, and that if they always followed the laws that were presented to them…" my voice trailed off.

Dag smiled and pat me on the head.

"Don't think too hard on it, it took your father years before he understood it," he said.

I smiled and nodded.

"Okay," I said.

"Dag, we got a letter from James," said Kindred.

Dag received the letter and opened it up, he raised an eyebrow.

"This is new," he said, "it says here that two of the five remaining lieutenants have been found in Great Britain."

"Great Britain?" I asked.

Dag nodded.

"Yeah… why do you sound slightly alarmed all of a sudden?" he asked.

I shifted my feet and said, "Well… it's just that I have family in Great Britain… my Uncle Fredrick Ames and my cousins Patrick and Alexandra. If I go to Great Britain… I don't know how they'll react if they see me."

"Then I suggest that you do your best to stay away from them during your trip to Great Britain," said Dag.

I nodded slightly and said, "Alright… when do we leave?"

"Tomorrow morning," said Dag, "I don't want us to miss the chance to take out two lieutenants at once."

I nodded and yawned.

"Alright," I said, "well, then in that case… goodnight."

I went into the cabin, headed to my bedroom and got ready for bed, I was exhausted. As I flopped onto my bed and prepared to go to sleep, there was a small knock on the door.

"It's open," I said groggily.

The door opened, Balto walked in. I smiled.

"Do you always wait for me to come to bed so you can tuck me in?" I asked.

Balto chuckled sarcastically and said, "For your information, I actually do a lot more than just wait for you to go to sleep so I can "tuck you in"."

I giggled.

"I was just kidding," I said, "you're so sensitive at times."

"I'm not sensitive, I was just stating a fact," he said, "so… what's going on tomorrow?"

"I'm going to Great Britain," I said, "two of Blackheart's lieutenants are there and I plan to kill them both."

"Sounds like fun," said Balto, "didn't you say that your heritage dates back to Great Britain?"

"My heritage actually consists of a mix of British and Irish," I said, "to be honest Balto… I'm a little worried… I don't know how my cousins or uncle will feel when they see me like this."

"Would you feel better if I accompanied you to Great Britain?" he asked.

My eyes widened.

"Huh?" I asked.

"I could accompany you on this trip," he said with a smile, "come on, I've always wanted to go to where your father was born. I don't mind Ravenswood Cove or the Caribbean, but I want to just… expand my horizon you know?"

"I don't know… What if there's a problem and the Templars cause a… problem?" I asked.

Balto leaned in and kissed me on the lips, I blushed deeply as he pulled away.

"Don't worry about me kiddo," he said as he stood up, "I might look like an ordinary cabin boy, but there's more to me than meets the eye."

Before I could ask what he meant, Balto walked out of my bedroom. I sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

 _"_ _That boy makes me feel some sort of way,"_ I thought.

It was the next day, Dag, Balto, Kindred, Trident, Danielle and I got an all-accessed paid trip to Plymouth so we could find the two lieutenants located there… oh and when I mean "all-accessed paid" I mean London smuggled us to Plymouth via… disguise.

"Ugh, I look ridiculous in these clothes," said Trident.

"Don't we all?" asked Danielle.

"Captain, tell me you're armed at least," said Trident.

"My blade is too conspicuous in these clothes," said Dag, "don't worry, London's having some of his men carry our belongings to the Tavern we're going to be staying at."

I looked around the town and let out a sigh, it's been so long since I've been here… so many wonderful memories I had with my family… before Blackheart… before my parent's death… before-

 _"_ _No, you have a mission Sarah-Beth,"_ I scolded to myself as I followed behind Dag.

As we arrived at our destination, I bumped into someone who was coming out.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" snapped the guy.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"Yeah you'd better be you…"

The guy stopped when he saw my face, I gasped and blushed, and the guy blushed too.

"Sarah-Beth?" he asked.

I didn't say anything, instead I just turned and hurried inside, I put my hand on my heart and started to breathe very fast.

"Sara-Beth, what's wrong?" asked Balto, "you look like you've just seen a ghost."

"I… I'm fine," I lied.

"Well, alright," said Balto, "Dag managed to find us some rooms, you're stuff's on your bed waiting for you when you're ready."

I nodded and headed up to my room, I opened up my bags and pulled out my robes and weapons, there was something else I pulled out too. Something important: A note.

"Sara-Beth, I thought I'd write this little note to let you know that this is your mission, we are merely here for support if things get out of hand. Inside is a number of places where the targets normally go to. Good luck and be careful.

-Captain Dag," it read.

I let out a sigh, I should've expected this though, I mean since this _was_ practically my mission Dag would've wanted me to take care of it. Either that or he still wants me to continue proving that I'm the daughter of Rowland Ravenswood-er, Raven Lord… whatever.

 _"_ _Looks like I'm going in alone then,"_ I thought as I slipped out of my disguise and into my gear.

It still felt a little weird wearing these robes, I didn't mind that they were light and provided me with a lot of mobility, but seeing Dag's robes that day with that armor and such made me feel so… vulnerable.

 _"_ _I hope I get some armor myself soon,"_ I thought as I made my way to the door.

As I prepared to turn the knob, I stopped short.

 _"_ _There shouldn't be a problem with me going down there in my robes, right?"_ I thought, _"yeah there shouldn't be, it's not like there's Templars here right?"_

I turned the doorknob, walked out of my room and headed downstairs. As I made my way to the door, I saw people give me a quick glance and went back to their business. I smiled under my hood and walked out into the cool night.

"Let's see, I have two targets to take out, both of them go to different locations… how am I going to do this?" I murmured to myself.

"Why not ask for help?" asked a voice.

I turned and saw someone in the same robes as mine, step out from the shadows. I gasped.

"Balto… you're… you're…" I started to say.

"An Assassin?" he asked, "yes, I am an Assassin."

"But, but, but I thought you were just another member in Dag's crew," I said.

"I told you Sarah-Beth, there's more to me than meets the eye," he said as he walked over to me.

I didn't know what to say, my mind was still processing what was happening.

"Balto… what are you doing here?" I asked.

I know it might've sounded kind of blunt, but it was the only thing I could spit out.

"Dag knew that you would try to take out the two lieutenants on your own, so he had me come and accompany you on this little mission," he said, "and don't worry, I'm able to handle my own, Dag trained me himself."

I smiled and gave Balto an affirmative nod.

"Alright, then let's get to it," I said.

Balto and I took off into the night, leaping from roof to roof, sticking to the shadows, and keeping an eye out for any possible sentries… because apparently rooftop guards don't like people hanging out up here.

"Sara-Beth, down there," said Balto.

I looked over the edge of the roof and saw some British talking to a man, I raised an eyebrow.

"It's just some old farts having a conversation," I said.

"That's not an old fart, that's one of the Templars," he said, "that's Brian Gold."

I looked at the man again, and suddenly something inside me flared up, as if the whole world appeared to have slowed down by 90%. I looked down at the man's hand and sure enough, there was a ring with the Templar cross etched on it. It _was_ one of the lieutenants.

"What are they talking about?" I asked.

"I don't know," said Balto, "let's get a closer look."

I saw Balto jump onto the edge and stand up. I started to get worried.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what the hell are you doing?" I asked.

"Sara-Beth, you're about to witness a leap of faith," said Balto.

And with that, Balto jumped off, not knowing what he meant, I got scared and ran over to the edge so I could be sure he didn't kill himself… to my shock, the crazy bastard landed in a passing cart full of hay. Balto hopped out and motioned for me to jump.

"Are you insane!?" I demanded.

Balto motioned for me to keep my voice down.

"Are you insane!?" I repeated in a loud whisper, "I'm just gonna climb down."

I climbed down the building and walked over to Balto, who was grinning from ear to ear. I glared at him.

"Glaoch orm righin, leomh mé leat (Call me a stiff, I dare you)," I said firmly.

Balto and I followed the Templar and the guards closely, keeping in mind not to make ourselves look suspicious. I looked over at Balto and saw that he had his head down and also had a hand up to his right ear.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Shh, I'm listening in on them," he said.

I looked at the people ahead of us, they were way further ahead of us, how the hell could Balto possibly even hear what the fuck they're even saying!?

 _"_ _I need to learn that trick,"_ I thought.

We kept following them closely, while Balto kept listening in on what they were saying, finally he looked over at me.

"Well?" I asked.

"They have some kind of shipment that's waiting down at the docks," he said.

"What kind of shipment?" I asked, "is it food? Medical supplies?"

Balto shook his head.

"No, he didn't say," he said, "but I think it's only fair that we find out."

I saw Brian Gold and the soldiers turned at the corner of the street and kept walking, I heard Balto eject his wrist blade and started to pick up the pace, I followed close behind him.

"Do you have you're bow on you?" asked Balto.

I shook my head, Balto reached into his robes and handed me two knives.

"Aim for the soldiers," he said.

I looked at the two soldiers and then I looked at the knives. I never threw a knife before, so there was no telling on how this would end, if I missed, Brian would call for help and Balto and I would be in big trouble; and if I hit Brian, the soldiers would call for help.

 _"_ _I hate lose-lose_ _situations,"_ I thought as I took aim.

I focused on the soldiers, brought the knives towards my body, focused on the soldiers, and threw the two projectiles.

 _Thunk!_

 _Thunk!_

The guards were hit and went down, before Brian could react, Balto charged, jumped with his wrist blade in the air and drove it into Brian's shoulder as he turned to see what was behind him. Balto picked up Brian and slammed him against the wall of a building.

"Alright Templar, a little birdy told me you've got a shipment waiting for you and your buddies down at the docks," growled Balto, "what's the shipment, huh?"

"Go fuck yourself, Assassin," mocked Brian.

Balto punched Brian in the nose, causing blood to drip out.

"Try again," he said.

 _"_ _Gur fhéach cosúil Gortaítear sé (That looked like it hurt),"_ I thought.

"Alright, alright," said Brian, "the shipment contains important items that will help Blackheart give his crew the edge they need against you Sea Wolves and your Assassin pirate officers."

"What kind of items?" asked Balto, "and don't you say what I want to hear or I swear I'll cut something off."

Brian let out a weak laugh and said, "Weapons. Military grade."

I looked at Brian, pushed Balto out of the way and grabbed Brian by the scruff of his shirt.

"Military grade?" I asked, "like military grade rifles and cannons?"

Before Brian could respond, I punched him in the stomach.

"Kind of like the same weapons used to attack my home? To kill my family and friends?" I asked getting upset.

"Sara-Beth," said Balto.

"Y-Yes," gasped Brian.

I growled.

"Píosa tú de cac fucking (You piece of fucking shit)!" I yelled.

I punched Brian in the stomach again and punched him again in the mouth, breaking a few of his teeth.

"What's he going to do with the weapons after we've been dealt with!? Huh!? Is he going to go back to attacking innocent people!?" I asked as I threw Brian to the ground.

Brian tried to run, but I tackled him to the ground, flipped him over and started to punch him in the face until he was bruised and bloodied, I didn't stop there.

"Tell me where the other lieutenant is! Tell me where Blackheart is! Tell me!" I demanded as I kept punching Brian, "tell me! Tell me! Tell me!"

Just then Balto pulled me off and shook me by my shoulders.

"Sara-Beth stop," he said with concern.

I looked at Balto and started to slow down my breathing.

"I'm sorry… I lost control," I said shamefully.

I turned towards Brian, ejected my wrist blade and stabbed him in the ribs, ending his life.

"Feicfidh mé in iúl do chara a fhios a dúirt tú "Dia duit" (I'll let your friend know you said "Hi")," I said as I rose to my feet.

"Come on, we have a Templar to find," said Balto.


	12. Chapter 11: New life

Chapter 11

This is my new life

Balto and I headed down to the docks, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, upon our arrival, I was shocked to see numerous guards had set up a few checkpoints around the area… well, I wouldn't say "shocked", I would say I expected for them to set up checkpoints.

"Look down there," said Balto, "it's Johnathan Heisler, he's Blackheart's shipment officer. If we kill him, we'll be dealing a major blow to those Templars."

"What are we waiting for? Let's kill the son of a bitch and be done with it," I said eagerly.

"And let all of Plymouth here your gunshot all the way over here?" asked Balto, "no, without your bow and arrows we're going to have to do this the old-fashioned way: Death by wrist blade."

As much as I wanted to argue, I couldn't help but nod in agreement.

"Give me thirty seconds to get the attention of the guards, once that happens, move in on the target," said Balto, "and one more thing: Don't let any sentries warn Johnathan that you're here, we need this done quietly. Okay?"

"Yes daddy," I said.

Balto gave me a look, I smiled at him and winked.

"Don't do that," he said flatly.

Balto jumped down to the ground below, throwing his hood down and approaching the guards at one of the checkpoints, very casually. I was curious on what he was going to do to get their attention, but then I got my answer…

"Hey! You're mother knitted Christmas Sweaters!" he called out.

 _"_ _If he thinks that's going to get them running…"_ I thought.

Sure enough though, the guards looked at each other, then they looked at Balto.

"Get him!" one of them called out.

Balto took off, with the guards in pursuit. Now, I was shocked.

 _"_ _You're so crazy Balto,"_ I thought as I climbed down.

I headed inside the docks, my hood pulled tightly over my head, my hands close to my sides, and my eyes and ears open to even the slightest sound of approaching footsteps. As I kept walking through the area, I happened to notice a warehouse nearby, with two guards posted at the door. I raised an eyebrow.

 _"_ _Guards? Hmmm, this smells suspicious,"_ I thought, _"I can't approach the door like this though."_

Pulling off my hood, I fluffed up my hair, took a deep breath and exhaled as I got ready to put on my… pirate charm. I approached the two guards and already they had their muskets aimed at me.

"Hold it, you're not supposed to be here lass," one of them said, "so why not just turn around and head home."

I allowed myself to blush.

"Oh my goodness, I'm sorry boys, I didn't mean to come over here," I said innocently, "I was just taking a stroll when I got separated from my boyfriend."

The guards looked at each other, the one on the left slowly approached me and said, "You got… separated?"

I slowly nodded, allowing myself to bite my fingernail and blush again.

"Please don't hurt me, I… I just want to go home," I said.

The guard smiled and reached out with his hand.

"Don't worry lass, my friend and I will take you back home," he said.

I smiled.

"Oh thank you, bless you kind sir," I said as I took his hand.

As the guard led me over to his friend, in a flash, I ejected my left wrist blade and stabbed my "escort" in the side of the ribs and lunged at his friend, driving my blade in his neck, killing him. I turned towards the guard, who was writhing and groaning in pain.

"Argh! You little bitch! You fucking little-"

I stabbed the guard in the spine, ending his life.

"Shut up," I said as I pulled my hood over my head, "ugh, I hate myself when I do that."

Sensing that the door might've been locked, I checked the guards to see if one of them was carrying a key, one of them did.

 _"_ _How convenient,"_ I thought as I walked over and unlocked the door.

I entered the warehouse and hid behind a corner, listening in on a conversation that was going on.

"Is the shipment ready for transport?"

"Yes, yes, just as your leader requested."

"Excellent, most excellent. And everything he's asked for is in the crates?"

"Yes, everything he requested on the list that you gave me."

"Good, very good."

"Master Heisler, if I may ask, why does your… leader need weapons such as these?"

"You needn't know why he needs these weapons, only that they'll give us an edge against our enemies."

"As you wish."

"Good, now, shall we discuss payment?"

I heard footsteps, followed by the sound of a door opening and closing. The Templars and their… ally must've left. I stepped out of the shadows and approached one of the crates, with a hard strike with my gauntlet, I broke the lock on one of the crates and opened her up. I stepped back in shock.

"Cac naofa (Holy shit)!" I whispered loudly.

The crate was full of muskets and flintlock pistols with ammo and gunpowder to boot! Brian was right, Blackheart was about to get a shipment of weapons… and they were military grade!

 _"_ _If Blackheart gets these weapons, he could wage war on the Assassins_ and _pirates singlehandedly,"_ I thought fearfully, _"I've got to do something about this."_

I drew my two swords and held them over the open weapons cache, I brandished my weapons at least five times before sparks came off and landed on the gunpowder, causing a small fire to stir up.

 _"_ _I'd better run,"_ I thought as I bolted out of the warehouse.

In five seconds… BOOM! The warehouse exploded, showering the docks with charred debris and hot embers. I smiled. Now while I was happy that the shipment was destroyed, unfortunately… I kind of startled the Templar soldiers posted here, before I knew it the air was filled with the sound of boots pounding against the ground as my enemies came to find out what happened. I quickly found a nice quiet spot to hide before they arrived.

"What the hell just happened!?" demanded Johnathan, "who destroyed the shipment!?"

 _"_ _He's pissed,"_ I thought.

"I thought there were two guards posted here too!" barked Johnathan.

"Sir, we found the guards," said one of the soldiers, "they're dead."

"Hurensohn! Gott verdammt!" roared Johnathan.

I don't speak German, but _boy_ did I piss him off. I looked around the corner and saw him turn towards his the British man who was with him, judging by his attire, I could only guess he was some kind of weapons supplier.

"You owe us a new shipment," he growled.

The man looked at Johnathan, put up his hands and shook his head.

"Now wait a minute, you guys wanted a shipment of military grade supplies and you got them," he said, "the fact that someone destroyed it all before you sailed back to wherever it is you came from, is _not_ my problem."

"Is that so?" Johnathan asked as he ejected his right wrist blade.

The man backed up.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute, I-I was just kidding," he said fearfully, "I-I'll go get a new shipment for you and your friends, I promise."

"Good," said Johnathan.

The man hurried off, I silently followed him out of the docks and towards the street, before he could even make a turn to the left or the right, I grabbed him and pulled him behind a corner.

"Wha-"

"Make a sound, and you die," I whispered as I held my wrist blade to his neck. I didn't eject it, I just wanted to make sure he knew I meant business, let him know that I wasn't bluffing.

The man stiffened, his breathing quickened and he started to sweat.

"Who… Who are you?" he asked.

"My name isn't important," I said, "what's important is you hearing this message that I have. Those men you're helping are pure evil, I don't know what they've told you; but trust me when I say it's all bullshit, and if you give them what they require you're going to put a lot of lives at risk. Do you want that? Do you want to be remembered as a man who gave weapons to men who plan to use them for… nefarious deeds?"

The man slowly shook his head, I released him.

"Good, then you'll do what's right and go home," I said as I turned and walked back towards the docks, "go back to working with honest men."

"Hold on a second," he said, "that's it? You just wanted to give me a message and now you're… letting me go?"

I stopped and turned towards the man.

"You're not my target," I said as I smiled under my hood, "the man who threatened you and those who serve him are my targets."

I arrived back at the docks, sure enough though, Johnathan had his troops on high alert, all of them had their muskets in hand or had their fingers wrapped around the hilt of their swords. I cursed.

 _"_ _I thought this was going to be too easy,"_ I thought bitterly.

Just then, someone tapped me on the shoulder, making me jump and turn around fast, only to stop dead just before my wrist blade reached my target's neck.

"Balto, where the hell have you been?" I asked.

"Nice to see you too," he said with a wink, "I apologize for being gone for so long, but I had to stop back at the Tavern and grab this."

I saw Balto pull something out and gasped, it was my father's-er, _my_ bow and arrows. I slung my weapons onto my back and smiled at Balto.

"Thank you," I said.

"No problem," he said as we rose to our feet, "now let's go kill us a Templar."

I nodded and took to the rooftop, taking up a sharpshooter position, I drew my bow, pulled out an arrow and looked for a potential target to hit.

 _"_ _If I'm going to get close to Johnathan, I'm going to need-"_

But my thoughts were soon interrupted by the sound of the soldiers yelling and shouting.

"Assassin! There's an Assassin at the docks! Assassin!" they yelled.

I turned and saw Balto fighting off scores of soldiers, with a cutlass in one hand and a flintlock in the other. Balto fired his flintlock, stuck it back in its holster and went straight to cutting down his enemies.

 _"_ _It looks like Balto can hold his own,"_ I thought as I sheathed my bow and arrow, _"I need to kill Johnathan."_

And with that I made my way to the ship, where I was confronted my two more soldiers, I ejected my wrist blades and slit their throats before they could even get a word out though.

"So, the prodigal child has arrived," Johnathan said as he walked over to the railing of his ship, "how predictable."

With a snap of his fingers, a squad of Templar soldiers stormed out from behind cover and surrounded me. I cursed under my breath.

"Oh good, I thought this was going to be too easy, again," I said in a sarcastic tone.

Johnathan cackled.

"You destroyed the shipment and ruined my mission child; but now you've given me a gold opportunity, once I take you back to Blackheart, he'll possibly overlook this little… situation you've given me. What's more, he might even give me a promotion for bringing his arch enemy back to him alive," he said.

As he kept talking, I slowly reached for my flintlock behind my back and pulled it out.

"You might as well surrender, there's no place for you to run," said Johnathan.

"Ní dom ... agus ní ar do shon (Not for me... and not for you)," I said.

In a flash, I drew my flintlock and fired, hitting Johnathan in the shoulder, he yelped and cursed in pain.

"Kill her! Kill the little bitch!" he ordered as he ran inside of the captain's quarters.

I holstered my firearm, drew my swords and quickly blocked the first bayonet that came at my face. I pushed the Templar back and ducked as two my soldiers came at me from behind with their bayonets.

 _"_ _I'm not gonna be able to land a kill if these guys keep trying to stick me like a wild boar, I need to even out this fight,"_ I thought.

As I ducked and dodged a few more bayonet thrusts, I reached into one of my pouches, pulled out a smoke bomb and threw it on the ground. A large cloud of smoke filled the area I was in, causing my enemies to start coughing and choking, know what little time I had, I sheathed my swords, ejected my wrist blades and immediately started going on a killing spree. Moving quick like a serpent, I pinpointed my kill strikes as I moved from target to target, slashing open their throats, stabbing them quickly in the chest, stabbing them in the back, or forcing a couple to their knees and snapping their necks. When the smoke cleared, my wrist blades and gloves were slick with blood, and all of the soldiers were lying on the ground dead.

 _"_ _I need to ask Dag to train me in fighting against enemies with muskets,"_ I thought as I retracted my wrist blades and stepped onto the ship.

"Keep your distance!" Johnathan barked as he pulled out a grenade.

"Cac aw (Aw shit)," I said.

I rolled to the left and ran up to the helm of the ship, Johnathan glared at me.

"You… You are everything that your father was, just like Blackheart said," he said fearfully.

"The only exception is that my father is dead and I'm not," I said as I walked over to Johnathan.

He started to back up into a corner as I cracked my knuckles.

"You know that your captain is conspiring against you right child?" asked Johnathan, "you don't have to kill off the last of us, you can just hang up the hood and walk away, you can go back to living the life you once lived. But if you keep continuing down this path, you'll be drawn into a war that's ruined the lives of a lot of good men and women, you'll never be the same. Trust me."

When I was face-to-face with Johnathan, I simply shook my head.

"Má tá tú ag iarraidh a praiseach le mo cheann, theip ort (If you're trying to mess with my head, you failed)," I said as I pulled out my other flintlock and fired.

Johnathan let out a pained grunt and fell over, wincing and gripping the open wound I gave him.

"Ah-haha, you can't blame a guy for trying to convince someone as persistent as you to turn away from this life," he said.

"Who said I was blaming you?" I asked.

Johnathan causing up blood and grunted again.

"I do warn you child, if you kill off the last of us… and kill Blackheart… there's no turning back to the life you once knew," he said, "I hope this is what you want."

I watched as Johnathan gave his last breath and went still.

"Rinne mé mbeadh saol, ach ansin ghlac Blackheart sé ar shiúl. Is é seo mo shaol nua anois (I did have a life, but then Blackheart took it away. This is my new life now)," I said as I turned to walk away, "oh, and Brian says "Hi"."


	13. Chapter 12: The meeting

Chapter 12

The meeting

Overall, the mission in Britain was a huge success, even with all of the damage that Balto and I caused, our involvement was covered up by Samuel Noble, the weapon's manufacturer whom I ran into that night at the docks. As it turns out, when I spared him instead of killing him, he took it as a good gesture and as a result he decided to form an alliance with The Sea Wolves as well as the Assassins, becoming our personal weapon's manufacturer. Dag gave me a pat on the head and said that I've done a great honor by providing us all with a new ally.

Three more years passed… wait, three more years? I just realized that it was April… my birthday was going to be coming up soon!

 _"_ _I hadn't celebrated my birthday since my parents were killed… am I ready to celebrate my 21_ _st_ _birthday after so long?"_ I thought as I laid in bed and looked at the ceiling.

I hopped out of bed, threw on my clothes and went outside, to my shock, London was waiting for me.

"London hi," I said with a smile, "what brings you here?"

"I just came by to see how you were doing," said London, "I see you've managed to fit in with your friends."

"Yeah, I did," I said, "they're often a wild and crazy bunch, but they've really made me feel like a part of the group."

"That's good," said London, "listen, as much as I want to listen more on what's been going on with you Sara-Beth, I'm actually here to give you something important: A letter from one of the last three Templars."

I raised an eyebrow, took the letter and opened it up. I skimmed through the letter and stopped when I saw something that caught my eye… actually, it also made me blush a little bit.

"This guy wants to meet with me onboard his ship?" I asked.

London raised an eyebrow.

"Huh? Meet you?" he asked.

I nodded and showed him the letter. A look of concern formed on London's face.

"What do you think I should do?" I asked.

London shrugged.

"The hell if I know; but if that letter says that you should come meet that Templar alone, then I'd keep it under wraps from the others," he said, "also, if you want, I'd be more than happy to supply you with whatever you require."

I smiled and gave him an affirmative nod.

"Go raibh maith agat (Thank you)," I said.

London raised an eyebrow.

"What was that? Italian?" he asked.

I shook my head.

"I'm Irish-American," I said.

"Oh," he said.

London left, I looked at the letter again and skimmed through it, the Templar says that he wants to meet somewhere near the Caribbean… I don't mind heading somewhere near the Caribbean to meet but… why even meet? Is it a trap? No way, Templars wouldn't be that stupid.

 _"_ _I guess I won't find out until I meet the guy,"_ I thought.

Later that day, I went to London and requested that he supply me with a ship so I could go meet this Templar, to make it even sweeter, he also supplied me with fifty soldiers to serve under my command, and the ship that he gave me was a Brig. Can you believe it? He gave me a Brig! I feel like it was my birthday already, hee-hee.

Anyway, I sailed to the Templar's meeting location, with my borrowed ship and crew, I was really nervous in truth, I've never sailed my own ship or had my own crew so this was all a little… overwhelming for someone like me who's always been used to assuming the role of the soldier.

"Anything in the distance?" I asked one of the soldiers.

"Not yet ma'am, so far all I see is… wait! Ship! I see a ship!" he called out.

I looked out into the distance and saw another ship, a Brig much like this one, floating in wait. I recognized the ship by the head, it was _The Falconer_.

 _"_ _That's Thomas's ship alright,"_ I said as I sailed towards it.

"Should I alert the men, Lady Ravenswood?" asked, Captain Darian.

I shook my head.

"No… actually, tell them to get on the cannons. Inform them to be ready to fire when they hear the first gunshot," I said.

Darian nodded and went below deck, just in time as I parked my ship next to Thomas's.

"¡Alto! ¿Quién eres?" asked one of the Templars on deck.

"Ní féidir liom labhairt Spáinnis, dumbass (I don't speak Spanish, dumbass)," I said flatly, "i gcás ina bhfuil Thomas Rivera (where's Thomas Rivera)?"

The Templar prepared to answer when a tall, average built Spaniard, walked over to the railing of the ship and smiled at me from under his hat.

"Lady Sara-Beth, I was afraid you wouldn't show," said Thomas.

"What do you want Thomas?" I asked, "I don't have all day."

"Ahora ahora, don't get testy," said Thomas, "come on over and we'll talk."

"Tell your boys to stand down first," I said.

Thomas turned and motioned for his men to stand down, they obeyed and stepped back, I jumped from my ship and over to Thomas's, my hands wrapped around my swords, ready to strike at even the slightest movement.

"Why did you want me to come here Thomas?" I asked.

"For two reasons: One, is so I could talk to you and two, so I can give you this," he said.

"Give me wha-"

But my question was cut off as Thomas kissed me on the lips without warning, I blushed deeply when I pulled away.

"What… What was that for?" I asked.

"Because I've never met such a beautiful and deadly Assassin," Thomas said with a smile.

I didn't say anything, I just blushed deeply and looked down for a quick second, shyly.

"I've heard the reports about you killing off the other lieutenants," said Thomas, "and I must say, I'm rather… impressed with your skills."

I didn't say anything, Thomas continued.

"I'd like to also add that the reports didn't mention you being so… beautiful," said Thomas.

I felt my heart beat faster.

"So… what did you want to talk to me about exactly?" I asked.

I let out a soft gasp as Thomas locked his fingers around mine.

"I want you to consider joining the Templars," he said.

I fucking knew it.

"What?" I asked in disbelief.

"Look, just here me out, Blackheart sees you as a major threat, he knows that you're coming for him and that's why he wants you dead so badly," said Thomas, "but think about this though: What if you turned your back on the Assassins? Join The Templar Order, become the greatest of us all, you'll even have your fill of wine, men, money, and blood."

I pushed Thomas away.

"No goddamn way! I'm no sellout," I said firmly, "you Templars are the reason why I joined The Sea Wolves, and from there I became an Assassin, so that Blackheart can pay for killing my mother and father."

Thomas sighed.

"I was afraid of this," he said as he shook his head, "and here I thought I wouldn't have to kill you."

Just then, I was faced with Thomas's flintlock, which was already loaded.

"On the bright side, I'll get a promotion and a large sack of coins for killing you as a reward," said Thomas.

"Like hell you are!" I heard someone call out.

Without warning, a flintlock went off and hit Thomas in the chest, killing him. I turned to see Balto standing behind me, I was surprised.

"You followed me?" I asked.

"Are you surprised?" asked Balto.

"Uhhh, yeah," I said.

I turned back towards the rest of the Templars and shouted, "Kill them!"

A huge fight broke out, muskets and flintlocks went off, swords flashed in the sunlight as the Cove Guard went toe-to-toe with Templar forces, Balto followed me into the fray as the two of us began swinging our weapons left and right with blinding speed and precision.

"Le chéile le haghaidh bua (Together for victory)!" I called out.

As I cut down my first two Templar soldiers, I turned and saw another one charging at me. Without hesitating, I drew my first flintlock and fired, shooting the bastard in the chest and killing him. As I slid my firearm back in its holster, I blocked and parried a series of sword strikes before drawing my other flintlock and firing, shooting my opponent in his knee. The Templar cried out in pain and fell over, I walked over and stabbed him in the chest, ending his life; as I turned, I ducked as a musket's bayonet came for my neck, as I quickly slid my second flintlock back in its holster, I ejected my left wrist blade and lunged at my opponent, driving my weapon into his throat. The Templar dropped his weapon and fell over, choking and drowning in his own blood.

"Is maith liom an dóigh leat bás, buachaill (I like the way you die, boy)," I said as I retracted my wrist blade.

As I drew my other sword, I was immediately confronted by three Templar soldiers, when I got in my battle stance, that feeling came over me again, that same feeling I get whenever I'm caught in a fight with a lot of enemies. All of a sudden, my mind started going at a fast, cool, flowing pace, my rapid heartbeat started to slow down a little and my entire surroundings seemed to slow down.

 _"_ _So… this is The Blade Dancer's Trance,"_ I thought.

I turned and leaned back as a Templar swung and tried to take my head off, when I stood back up right, I blocked another strike from behind and kicked my opponent away, without warning, I dropped to the ground as another Templar swung on me with his sword, I jumped back up, blocked his next attack and retaliated by punching him in the face and slicing open his throat, killing him. When I turned to the first Templar who attacked me, I caught his next strike with a cross block.

 _"_ _Let's see…"_ I thought.

Using my strength, I moved my opponent's blade down towards the ground and delivered a quick kick to his elbow, breaking his arm. The Templar cried out and dropped his weapon, without hesitating, I sliced his throat open, killing him. I turned around and rolled out of the way as another Templar swung a naval boarding axe at me.

 _"_ _Wow, big,"_ I thought.

And he was big too, big and bulky… I was hoping that he wasn't stupid either, because from what I understand, big, dumb guys with axes is a bag combination. The Templar marched over and swung on me again, prompting me to duck and slice him across the knee, my opponent went down, allowing me to kick him in the nose and stab him in the heart.

"Sara-Beth! We're about to have company!" Balto called out.

I turned around and saw a brig sail over to us, I looked at the flag to see who it was: It bore the Templar Cross. I cursed.

"It's another lieutenant!" I called out.

I turned and saw Balto snap the last Templar's neck, then he turned and saw the ship that was fast approaching, he cursed as well.

"Sara-Beth what do we do?" he asked.

"Have half of the men grab only the ammunition for the cannons, and quickly," I said, "we need to get ready for battle as soon as possible."

And with that, the soldiers hustled, down to the lower decks, grabbing the ammunition as well as crates of gunpowder for the cannons… I should also add that they also grabbed ammunition for their muskets and flintlocks, it was a good thing too considering that I neglected to mention that.

"All of the ammunition and gunpowder is on the ship ma'am," said one of the soldiers.

"Then let's blow this ship to hell and let's go get us a lieutenant," I said.

Balto nodded and ordered the men to fire on Thomas's ship, sending it to the bottom of the ocean.

"Full sail boys! Let's get moving!" I ordered as a reached the wheel of the ship, "I want to meet my target at the halfway point."

"Full sail!" ordered Balto, "give it all you've got you scurvy dogs!"

The sails went all of the way down, and were off, I could feel the adrenaline rushing through my veins as I gripped the wheel of my ship as I sailed towards my target.

"Get the cannons ready! Prepare to fire on my command!" I ordered.

"Ready yourselves!" ordered Balto, "get those cannons prepped and loaded!"

Half of the soldiers scrambled down to the lower decks to get the cannons loaded, I looked over at Balto.

"What's going on Balto?" I asked, "what's the enemy up to?"

Balto looked through the periscope.

"Looks like the Templars have their weapons loaded and ready as well," he said, "my guess is he'll fire as soon as we sail right past him."

"Well then let's see if we can't knock these bastards off of their rockers," I said as I steered the ship straight.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, you're going to ram his ship?" asked Balto.

"Brig's are known for their ramming capabilities," I said, "so yes, I'm going to ram him."

Balto muttered something under his breath, I didn't pay attention to what he said, I just kept sailing closer and closer to the Templar ship until…

 _WHAM!_

The whole ship rocked everyone all around, even I struggled to stand after delivering such a powerful hit to my enemy. When I looked over at the Templar ship, I saw that most of them were knocked onto the floor, this was my chance!

"All cannons, fire! Fire!" I barked.

"Fire the cannons!" barked Balto.

The ship vibrated as its cannons fired on the enemy ship, sending bits of wood and debris our way. The sounds of the Templar soldiers crying out from the damage I delivered had filled the air.

"Reload! Prepare to fire again!" I ordered.

I looked up at the Templar lieutenant, he looked back at me and gave me a threatening gesture. I didn't need to be a genius to know that he was saying, "You're a dead woman", naturally I responded by giving him a taunting gesture to piss him off.

"Ba mhaith leat dom? Come agus a fháil dom (You want me? Come and get me)," I said.

The Templar Lieutenant growled, I watched as his quartermaster walked over and talked with him for a quick second, the Templar said something to his quartermaster and shouted, "Fire on the assassins!"

"Brace, get down!" I barked.

Everyone ducked as the Templars fired on us… except for one poor soul, who had his head taken off by a cannonball. We all rose to our feet and saw a number of Templars head over to the railing of their ship and fire on my men and I with their muskets and flintlocks. I ducked down as a flintlock bullet whizzed past my head, I growled.

"Pull them in for a cold steeled death!" I ordered.

"Men! Arm yourselves! They're coming aboard!" ordered the lieutenant.

The grappling hooks were tossed, the ship was pulled in, I threw my hood over my head, checked my equipment and headed over to one of the… boarding ropes, I should say. When the Templar ship was pulled in close, I as well as a number of the men, either swung or jumped across to the other side. As soon as I landed, I drew both of my pistols, I shot the first Templar who charged at me, dodged an on-coming sword slash, shot my opponent in the knee, grabbed him in a headlock and snapped his neck. I turned to see Balto fighting off three Templar soldiers at a time, sword in one hand, dagger in the other.

 _"_ _How the hell does he do it?"_ I thought as I turned to engage another Templar soldier.

When I blocked my next opponent's attack, I raised an eyebrow to see that it wasn't a man; but a woman.

"Didn't think Templars would allow women into their ranks," I said as I shoved her away, "I thought they'd just make you guys do their laundry and cook their food like slaves."

The Templar gritted her teeth and whistled for a couple of her friends to come over.

"I'll show you who's a slave," she said, "let's go boys."

The Templars charged. I raised my swords and blocked the first wave of slashes at my torso and neck, then I retaliated by lashing out with a flurry of swords slashes and flourishing strikes, forcing the Templars on the defense. I felt myself falling into the trance again, and before I knew it, I seemed to be… jumping between the three of my opponents.

 _"_ _Keep them on their back foot,"_ I thought as I blocked and dodged the second Templar's series of attacks.

Just then, a bell went off in my head and I found myself blocking another attack from behind, when I turned towards the second Templar, I jumped back as he attempted to drive his sword through my side. Without hesitating, I kicked him in the side, dodged the third Templar's attack and swung at his neck, slicing it open and killing him. When the second Templar recouped, I drove my offhand blade through his gut and killed him, just then, I let out a pained yelp as that female Templar kicked me in the back.

"Argh, in the back!?" I snapped at her, "Dick bogadh soith (dick move bitch)."

The Templar chuckled at me in response, in a flash, I lunged and drove my left wrist blade in her chest, killing her. I turned towards the helm of the ship and saw the Templar lieutenant waiting for me, with his sword drawn, I walked over to him, amidst the chaos that was going on around me; when I arrived, I smirked under my hood and brandished my main hand sword at him.

"You ready to do this?" I asked.

"Let's dance," he said.


	14. Chapter 13: Assassin vs Assassin Hunter

Chapter 13

Assassin vs. Assassin Hunter

The Templar and I jumped at each other, or swords rang loudly as they collided with each other with blinding fast speed as the two of us attempted to kill each other in a vicious one-on-one duel.

"I never got your name by the way," I said when we got in a sword lock.

"It's Jameson. Jameson Lawrence," said the Templar, "why do you ask?"

"So I can know what to etch on your tomb stone after I… kill you!" I exclaimed as I knocked him away with a shoulder slam.

Jameson stumbled and grimaced from the blow he took, but he didn't go down, when he recouped, he lunged at me again and unleashed another flurry of sword slashes, prompting me to throw up wall of defense. My swords moved all around me, becoming blurs of shining steel as I blocked and parried each of Jameson's attacks with ease… notice I didn't add "relative".

 _"_ _This guy seems really fast for a Templar,"_ I thought as I rolled back and jumped to my feet, _"which is weird because a lot of the other lieutenants I've hunted down were… old men."_

When I looked at Jameson, I noticed something that almost made me gasp: He was young, roughly my age!

 _"_ _Shit,"_ I thought dreadfully, _"I hope he's not…"_

Jameson lunged at me, I rolled out of the way and attacked with a rising whirlwind of blades, he blocked each of my strikes with relative ease and struck me in the face with a spinning kick, throwing me off balance. I was shocked!

 _"_ _He must've been trained by Blackheart personally to be an Assassin Hunter, there's no reason for him to be able to match his speed with mine,"_ I thought as I spat out some blood.

"What's wrong? Never met an Assassin Hunter?" he asked.

"Met? Yes," I said, "fought? No. Killed? I'm about to."

Jameson and I charged at each other, he struck high, I blocked his attack and kicked him in the chest, knocking him; however Jameson lunged at me again and lashed out with a cyclone of sword slashes, I blocked and parried each of his attacks as best as I could, but he managed to sneak past my guard and get me in the cheek when I tried to dodge another thrust. When Jameson went for a sweeping slash, I spun out of the way and kicked him in the ribs, causing him to stumble. I was panting breathlessly, my muscles ached, my head was pounding, sweat was pouring down my face, and I was struggling to keep a firm grip on my swords; but Jameson, he looked like he was panting a lot less than I was.

 _"_ _What the fuck? How is he less tired than me?"_ I thought, _"I need to find a way to beat this guy, otherwise I'm going to be sent back to Dag as a corpse."_

I sheathed my offhand sword, shook my head, and got in my battle stance. Jameson chuckled.

"Do you really think there's going to be a dramatic difference?" he asked.

"One can only hope," I said.

Jameson and I charged and crossed swords, our weapons moved in front of us with lightning fast speed, as if we were cut off by a wall of blades. Whenever we got in a sword lock, we would try to force each other to jump away with a twist kick or a roundhouse, in short, this duel just turned into a vicious fight to the death.

 _"_ _How am I supposed to get past his guard? He's able to match his speed with my own, it's completely… wait a second… that's it!"_ I thought as I dodged another sword thrust and dropped low as Jameson swung at my neck, _"he might be able to match his speed with my own to the point where he barely gets exhausted, but I doubt he has a strong defense if I went on the offensive."_

Waiting at just the right moment, I blocked the next sword strike, parried the next sword thrust and retaliated with a sword thrust of my own, forcing Jameson to lean back.

 _"_ _Gotcha!"_ I thought with a grin.

Using this chance I had, I drew my other sword and delivered a spinning kick to Jameson's back, causing him to stumble, I didn't let up though, I lashed out a barrage of slashes and strikes with lightning fast speed, forcing my opponent onto his back foot.

 _"_ _I knew it, he doesn't have a strong guard,"_ I thought.

As a swung each of my swords on Jameson, I smiled as I saw him attempt to block each of my strikes with minimal difficulty. When I went for two double-sword slashes, Jameson ducked and evaded each of my attacks, he didn't even try to block them.

"Looks like this fight's in my favor now," I said with a smile.

"I wouldn't be too sure," said Jameson.

I raised an eyebrow and prepared to ask what he meant, but before I could, a bell went off in my head.

 _"_ _Duck!"_ I thought.

I ducked as a flintlock went off from behind me, when I rose to my feet I threw my offhand sword and struck the Templar in the chest with it, killing him. When I turned around, Jameson tried to punch me; but I leaned back and threw my own punch, he caught it. I struggled to push him back, but it was no use, he was too strong for me.

 _"_ _At least I have another hand,"_ I thought.

I through my other sword down and punched Jameson in the jaw before he had a chance to catch my attack, before he could even recoup, I jumped at him, delivering a combination of punches and kicks to Jameson.

 _Bam!_ Kicked him in the chest.

 _Bam!_ Punch him in the cheek.

 _Bam!_ Roundhouse to his shoulder.

 _Bam!_ Low kick to his thigh, causing him to drop to the ground.

Without letting up, I flipped over his shoulders, ejected my right wrist blade, pulled Jameson in close and stabbed him in the back. Jameson went down, grimacing and groaning in pain.

"Looks like I win," I said.

Jameson chuckled at me and grimaced again.

"No… you haven't won… not yet," he said with a smile, "there's still Blackheart… and the last lieutenant."

I watched as Jameson's life ebbed away at my feet and went still.

"Ná bíodh imní ort, tá siad ar aghaidh (Don't worry, they're next)," I said.

Balto and I returned home later that evening in high spirits, although we lost some good men in those two fights, they told me they were just happy to have aided me in this "pursuit of vengeance". I told them that I wasn't focused on seeking vengeance… not anymore.

"So… one more to go," said Balto.

I smiled and nodded.

"One more to go," I said.

Balto and I walked down to the docks after we got cleaned up back at the cabin, when I told Dag about how I killed the two lieutenants, he was extremely pleased with me, saying that I'm becoming "the spitting image of my father". As much as I wanted to tell him that my father and I are nothing alike, I couldn't help but agree with him, every day I spent training and honing my skills, it seemed I was becoming more and more in touch with my inner Assassin. I no longer saw the world as just a place of normalcy and innocence, there were secrets… lots of secrets… secrets that the rest of mankind didn't even know about… secrets that even _I_ didn't know about until I was fifteen.

"Hey Sara-Beth, follow me," said Balto.

"Huh? Okay," I said as I followed Balto down to the beach.

Balto headed left through town with me following close behind him, Balto lead me out of town and down a hill that lead to the beach, from there, he lead me to a rocky plateau down by the ocean line. Balto climbed up on top of the rocky plateau and helped me up, he sat down, I sat down with him.

"What'd you bring me here for Balto?" I asked.

"To show you this," he said as he took off his boots.

I looked out into the distance and gasped when I saw the sunset.

"It's so… beautiful," I said with a smile.

"Isn't it?" he asked with a smile, "I often come down here from time-to-time whenever I come home from taking care of a contract. Everyone had walked past this place numerous times, but they never came up here to look out over the ocean. When I came up here for the first time, I was… speechless. Never in my entire life had I ever seen a more beautiful view."

I looked at Balto and then I looked out over the ocean.

"The way the water catches the sunset… it's enough to leave a calm feeling in your heart," he said as he took off his boots.

I looked down and gingerly took off my boots, Balto looked over at me and nudged my foot with his own, I blushed and looked over at him. Balto smiled at me.

"Balto… what made you want to become an Assassin?" I asked.

Balto sighed.

"I didn't want to become an Assassin from the start," he said, "in truth, I wanted to become a pirate."

"Huh? A pirate? Why?" I asked.

Balto shrugged.

"I don't know, I guess you could say it all started back to when I was little," he said, "back then, I was the son of a caring mother and an abusive father."

"Abusive?" I asked with concern.

Balto nodded.

"My father was a fisherman by day and a drinker and gambler by night, I only assume you know what that entailed," he said, "whenever he lost a game of cards, he would take his anger out on me or my mother. It got so bad to the point that one day while I was out, I watched my mother actually… commit suicide because she couldn't take the punishment my father dealt to her."

"Why didn't she go to the guard?" I asked.

"My mother couldn't bear the thought of doing that, she was afraid of what my father would do to her if he found out," said Balto, "…so I took care of the problem myself, by killing my father."

I looked over at Balto, to my relief… well, surprise rather, he didn't have a smile on his face.

"The guards didn't take me killing my own father so lightly," he said, "so… they threw me in jail."

"So how did you get Dag's attention?" I asked.

Balto sighed.

"It was after the attack by Blackheart that I ran into Dag," he said, "during the commotion, I used the opportunity I had in order to escape from jail. After that, I spent my days as a thief, stealing anything I could in order to survive and make sure I was fed each day."

I looked over at Balto and frowned.

"Wait, so you were the one that staged a number of those burglaries?" I asked.

Balto smirked. I punched him in the arm.

"Ouch," he said.

"You dick," I said, "do you know how hard it is to replace some of those expensive pieces of merchandise you stole?"

"Oh come on, don't tell me you would've done the same thing Sara-Beth," he said with a wink.

I blushed and let out a huff, Balto chuckled and gave me a playful nudge, I looked over and giggled only to gasp and look away in embarrassment.

"My, my, was that a giggle I heard?" he asked.

"N-No," I said.

I saw Balto move closer out of the corner of my eye.

"I do believe I did," he said, "come on little birdy, let me hear that giggle again."

A small giggle escaped my lips, I gasped and clasped my mouth shut in embarrassment.

 _"_ _Dammit, stop doing that Sara-Beth,"_ I scolded myself.

Just then, I let out a squeak as I felt Balto's fingers lightly run down the back of my neck, I looked over and blushed deeply. Balto gave me a smile, I smiled back.

"You know… the sunset really makes your hair give off a nice sheen," he said.

I looked away.

"Stop that," I said with a smile.

"Stop what?" asked Balto.

"You're making me blush," I said shyly.

Balto turned my head, making me look into his eyes, I let out a soft gasp when I looked into his eyes, they were jade green. Combine that with his short, brown hair, and…

"Balto…" I started to say.

"Hmm?" he asked.

"Um… do you remember when you… kissed me?" I asked, "do… do you think we could… try again?"

Balto gave me another smile and brushed me hair behind my ear, we looked into each other's eyes, leaned in and… he stopped me!?

"Not yet," he said.

"Huh?" I asked.

"It's not the right time," he said.

I was hurt.

"Wha-What do you mean it's not the right time?" I asked.

Balto didn't respond, he simply rose to his feet and hopped off of the rock. I sighed as I hopped off and the two of us started to make our way back to the cabin.

 _"_ _My heart's beating so fast it almost hurts… have I… have I fallen for Balto?"_ I thought with uncertainty.


	15. Chapter 14: The young dancer

Chapter 14

The young dancer

I woke up the next day to something very unexpected: Balto was in bed with me! I blushed deeply and stifled a squeak.

 _"_ _Oh naofa, ifreann (Oh holy, hell), did we?"_ I thought.

Balto stirred and opened his eyes.

"Hi," he said.

"B-Balto… why are you in bed with me?" I asked.

"Don't you remember? You asked me to stay the night in your room and then we crashed after we got finished talking," he said as he sat up.

I didn't say anything.

"And don't worry, we didn't have sex," he said, "you're still a virgin."

I blushed deeply again.

"H-How did you know I was a virgin!?" I demanded.

Balto chuckled and hopped out of my bed, he threw on his shirt and vest.

"I didn't," he said as he gave me a wink.

I looked down and covered myself in embarrassment and slight irritation from his comment.

"Well, I'd better get going, I'm sure Dag has a contract waiting for me today," said Balto, "later, little birdy."

I blushed deeply again and let out a huff as Balto left, I looked down and felt something wash over me… not a thought; but something else.

 _"_ _Ugh, some of the things that Balto says to me really rubs me the wrong way sometimes, but… other times whenever I'm with him… whenever I see him battle…"_ I thought.

I put my hand on my chest, I started to blush and breath fast.

 _"_ _Whenever he's in a fight or whenever he's around me… I just feel so comfortable around him… like… like…"_ I thought, _"god, what the hell is wrong with me!?"_

I shook my head and fell back on my bed, pulling my pillow in close to my chest and squeezing it. Just then, there was a knock at the door, causing me to sit up and cover myself again.

"Who is it?" I asked.

"It's me," said Dag.

I jumped out of bed, put on my blouse and pants and went to go open the door. Dag smiled at me.

"Morning sleepy," he said.

"Hi Dag," I said, "any… any word on the last target?"

"I'm actually glad you asked that," he said showing me a letter, "as it turns out, James managed to find our last target hiding out in the Caribbean. Apparently your rising reputation has caused this guy to take an early retirement."

"You're joking," I said.

"Nope," he said, "James said that he saw his ship head for Havana, the thing that caught his surprise was that the Templar lieutenant's ship wasn't bearing the traditional cross."

I smiled.

"Great, so all I have to do is just head there and stick my blade in his neck," I said.

"Yeah… no, you see if my assumption is correct, he'll be expecting an attack from you," said Dag, "if you want to take this guy out, you're going to need a disguise if you plan to get close."

"And lucky for you, I have the perfect disguise right here," said a voice.

I turned to see James standing in the hallway. I smiled at her-I mean, him.

"Dia duit James (Hello James)," I said.

James gave me a small wave and smiled back.

"So what's the disguise?" I asked.

James told me what it was. My cheeks flared up quickly and I threw my hands up.

"NO! NO FUCKING WAY!" I screamed, "there's no in hell I'm wearing something so… sleazy."

"Well there's no way in hell I'm wearing it," said James, "besides, I have to keep up appearances, if I were to go and try to kill the guy he'd be able to recognize me the moment he saw my face."

 _"_ _Maybe if you'd lose the look of a dude, the outcome would be a little different,"_ I thought.

"Now you Sara-Beth, you're young, beautiful, and not to mention you fill out in the right places. You're totally perfect," said James.

I looked over at Dag.

"Dag, you can't possibly make me wear that," I said, "I'll never live it down."

Dag just looked at me and shrugged.

"Do you have any better ideas?" he asked.

I opened my mouth and started to speak when I stopped and let out a sigh. I shook my head and walked over to James, I swiped the disguise and glared at him.

"Is fuath liom tú (I hate you)," I said.

James chuckled and gave me a pat on the cheek.

"Love you too, Sara-Beth," he said.

I went into my room and closed the door. I took off my blouse and pants and slipped the dancer disguise on, the disguise consisted of a long, flowing yellow and light green dress, a beaded sash to wear around my waist and a long-sleeved, light green V-neck top that exposed my midriff. To top it off, I was also given a beaded necklace to wear.

"Breathnaíonn sé seo uafásach (This looks awful)!" I screamed.

I turned to the sound of James laughing out loud, I growled and clenched my fists.

 _"_ _Go weasel beag, tá mé ag mothú theastaigh sé dom a chur ar an disguise a fháil atá in ann imoibriú as dom (That little weasel, I have a feeling he wanted me to put on this disguise to get a reaction out of me),"_ I thought angrily.

When I stepped out and looked at Dag and James, the former looked at me and put a hand to his mouth.

"You're laughing aren't you?" I asked.

Dag shook his head.

"No… not on the outside," he said.

James laughed again.

"Shut up!" I snapped.

"Oh don't be so sensitive Sara-Beth, it looks good on you," he said.

"I feel so vulnerable though," I said as I wrapped my arms around my stomach, "couldn't I have worn my civilian outfit?"

"Actually yes, you could've," said Dag.

I gave Dag a look.

"If I could've worn my civilian outfit, then why am I wearing this!?" I demanded.

"James put me up to it," said Dag, "said he'd pay me if I played along."

"I didn't think you'd actually do it," James said with a snicker.

"Tá tú dhá assholes (You two are assholes)," I said flatly.

"Sara-Beth?" asked a voice.

"What!? Eep," I squeaked in embarrassment.

Balto was standing right behind me, he was blushing deeply, I started blushing deeply and stood where I was, frozen in place.

"Um… what's with the get up?" he asked.

"It's a, um… disguise-"

"I don't want to know," Balto said as he walked away.

James laughed again.

"This is the best day ever," he said.

"OH téigh a fuck duit féin (Oh go fuck yourself)," I muttered.

We arrived at the Caribbean around close to the evening, more specifically James and I arrived at Havana the place where the last Templar lieutenant was staying at, the whole trip was awful, not because James was getting a kick out of seeing me with a fowl look on my face; but because a number of London's men who accompanied us kept staring at me. Every time I caught them staring I would snap at them, and every time I snapped, James would laugh, it was a vicious cycle.

"Well, we're here," said James.

"Let's get this over with before one of the men start getting naughty ideas," I said.

"What did we do!?" demanded one of the soldiers.

I followed James to the Tavern, all while looking around the whole town as we made our way to our destination.

"Would you relax?" asked James.

"You try to relax while looking like a juicy piece of treasure, James," I grumbled.

James chuckled.

"Don't worry, I'll be right inside with you," said James, "when you kill the bastard, just come see me and I'll hand you your gear inside of this bag right here."

I didn't say anything, when we arrived at the Tavern, James was quick to present me to the man at the door.

"Got you another performer here," he said.

The man looked up and down, making my cheeks turn red with embarrassment and anger.

"Is she any good?" he asked.

"She's the best dancer ever," James said as he slapped my ass.

I let out a high pitched yelp and glared at James, who gave me a wink and a chuckle.

 _"_ _This bitch makes me wonder,"_ I thought.

The man smiled.

"Well… she seems like she would be ripe for the picking," he said, "alright, bring her in."

James and I entered the Tavern.

"Slap my ass one more time, and I'll cut something off," I growled.

"Don't be so sensitive," said James, "now head out there and mingle, I'll be by the door."

With a small shove, James left me to… "mingle" with the patrons, as I walked through the Tavern, I saw a number of men look at me with hungry stares, they whistled and made… crude gestures as I made my way to the stage on the other side of the Tavern.

 _"_ _These guys are disgusting, I hope none of them are pirates,"_ I thought as I pushed through the curtains and was confronted by other dancers.

I blushed deeply.

"Um… hi," I said shyly.

"Who's this girl?" asked one of the dancers.

"I've never seen her before," said another dancer.

"What's your name kiddo?" asked a third dancer.

"My name is Sar… uh… Rachael," I said with a sheepish grin, "Rachael uh… Patterson."

The dancers looked at one another and talked for a few seconds in a hushed tone before one of them said, "Rachael, are you Irish by any chance?"

 _"_ _cac aw (Aw shit),"_ I thought.

But I just looked at the dancer and slowly nodded.

"Yes, I was… I mean, I am," I said, "I snuck on a ship to come here and… I thought I'd take up a job as a dancer."

The other girls giggled amongst themselves.

"Well I hope you're ready sweetheart, because these men aren't going to be like the guys you've probably come across from… wherever you were born," said one of the dancers.

"Great," I said in a semi-cheerful tone.

Now, I'm sure your wondering how my night went, well… how can I put this bluntly? As soon as the curtains opened and I headed out there with the other dancers, no sooner had I shook off my nervousness and started dancing to the sultry music, I had at least, three different guys try to put their hands on me. Now seeing's how I needed to keep a low profile, instead of grabbing a guy and forcibly punching him right in the fucking face or grabbing his wrist and breaking it, I just whirled around and slapped all three of them. Each time I slapped a guy who tried to touch me, I looked and saw James give me a thumbs up and a nod.

"Ní sin greannmhar, jerk tú (That's not funny, you jerk)," I mouthed to her.

As I continued dancing around the patron's tables… and flirting with them… no, I'm not proud that I did that… anyway, I felt a tap on the shoulder, when I turned around I saw a tall, well-built Spaniard standing behind me. Judging by the attire he was wearing, and the look on his face, I could only assume he was the owner of this establishment. I didn't know why the guy had approached me, but if I was in trouble for slapping the guys I came across, then I needed to play the "Innocent, cute, new girl" card… ugh, just saying it was enough to make me puke; but not as much as the question that slipped past my lips.

"D-Did I do something wrong… sir?" I asked innocently.

"It seems your feisty attitude has caught the eye of this patron right here," said the Tavern owner.

When I looked to see who he was talking about, I gasped when I saw a guy step out from behind him. It was Reginald Martin, my target!  
"I like your style cutie," he said as he took my hand and kissed it, "I hope the rest of you is just as interesting."

As much as I didn't want to, I had to put on a flirty smile and step closer to him.

"Oh don't worry big boy, I'll try not to disappoint," I said.

I followed my target upstairs and into an empty room, as I looked around the room, I saw that there wasn't much for me to use in terms of a "weapon" which meant I would have to grab whatever weapon he was carrying or try to take him down with my bare hands.

"You look a little nervous child; you wouldn't happen to be a virgin would you?" asked Reginald.

I looked up and put on my "innocent look" as I slowly nodded.

"Y-Yes," I said shyly as I blushed and bit my finger.

Reginald smiled as he took my hand and carried me over to the bed.

"Don't worry, I promise that I'll be gentle," he said as he gently pushed me onto my back.

As Reginald leaned in to give me a kiss, I looked down and saw a knife in his boot, I didn't want to pull it out with my toes, so instead I went with a different approach: I struck him in the side of the ribs with my right knee. Reginald grunted and moved off of me, allowing me to reach down, grab the knife, broke his knee with a low kick, and pin him to the wall with his own knife to his throat.

"What the fu-"

"You were actually willing to come onto a young girl? Are you _that_ hard-up?" I asked.

Reginald tried to speak, but all that came out was a pained grunt.

"So, how do you want to do this? Slit throat? Or a nice stab under the ribs?" I asked.

Reginald grunted again and then… he let out a chuckle. I raised an eyebrow.

"Something funny?" I asked.

"You… You fell for his trap," he said as he lifted up his hand and showed me the Templar ring, "not a Templar. This is just a ring with the Templar cross painted on it."

I growled and slammed Regina… I mean, this imposter, against the wall.

"Where's Reginald!?" I demanded, "dove diavolo è lui (where the hell is he)!?"

"He knew that it was only a matter of time before you would start coming for him, so he paid me to be his decoy," said the man, "I never knew that his word would actually be so spot on."

I growled and stabbed the man in the leg, making him grind his teeth.

"Don't scream, don't scream," I warned, "if you scream I kill you. Now where is he!?"

"He's downstairs in the main area, he planned on staying here forever once you killed me, said that being a Templar wasn't worth it after all of these years," said the man, "please don't kill me, I don't know what's going on between you two, but I'm just an innocent pawn."

Without even thinking twice, I stabbed the man in the stomach.

"La prossima volta, non essere coinvolti in conflitti che non si sa nulla (Next time, don't get involved in conflicts that you know nothing about)," I said as I let the man fall to the floor.


	16. Chapter 15: Happy birthday Sara-Beth!

Chapter 15

Happy birthday Sara-Beth!

I opened the door to the room and bumped into James.

"Sara-Beth-"

"It was a trap," I interrupted, "Reginald knew I was coming so he hired a decoy so I could take the bait."

"I know," said James.

I raised an eyebrow.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"Because I saw him when I was coming upstairs to get you," he said, "here, you're going to need your gear."

I nodded and closed the door so I could get changed into my Assassin attire, when I swung the door open, I charged downstairs and saw Reginald heading for the door. I growled.

"Coinnigh sé Templar (Hold it Templar)!" I barked.

Reginald gasped and bolted out of the door, I gave chase, all while pulling out my bow and readying an arrow.

"Stay back! Stay back damn you!" ordered Reginald, "I said stay back!"

Reginald and I shoved through the crowds of people in the shopping area, I didn't care if someone would've called the guards on me right now for causing such a ruckus, I-

"Moza Inglés! ¡Deténgase (English wench! Stop)!" I heard someone shout out.

Okay, so maybe I did care, _but_ that's why I had James with me, because as soon as I saw a guard close in on me, I heard a gunshot, followed by a thud. I turned around and saw James holster his flintlock before engaging the rest of the guards.

"Sara-Beth, go! I'll hold them off!" he ordered.

I nodded and kept going. As I kept chasing Reginald through Havana, I noticed he was heading for the docks, I cursed.

"Oh hell, no, you're not going to get away from me," I said as I pulled my arrow back and took aim, "steady… steady… Dóiteáin (Fire)."

I let the arrow fly through the air and got struck Reginald right in his lower back, causing him to freeze up and start hopping on one foot for a few seconds before going down and screaming in pain.

 _"_ _Bullseye,"_ I thought as I walked over to my target.

"You… I've always known that you would eventually come for me," he said as I sheathed my bow, "I knew that you wouldn't stop until we were all dead."

"You say that you knew this was coming, yet I doubt you did anything to convince Blackheart to stop this hunt," I said.

"Oh, but I did child… I most certainly did," said Reginald, "In fact, I even told him if he started sending us out to hunt you down, it would only further bolster your goal in seeing us dead. And now… my premonition was correct."

"That's right, and now Blackheart will be next," I said.

Reginald laughed.

"Blackheart. You know he won't take the news of my death so lightly… you won't have to worry about going after him either lass… he's coming… for you," he said.

I watched as Reginald closed his eyes and went still on the ground, unmoving, unbreathing… dead.

"A chuid lieutenants atá imithe, tá sé i mbaol anois. Lig dó teacht, beidh orainn réiteach seo uair amháin agus do gach duine (His lieutenants are gone, he's now vulnerable. Let him come, we'll settle this once and for all)," I said as I took Reginald's ring.

When I returned to James, I saw that he was waiting for me, his hands were slick with blood and the guards were lying on the ground dead, I looked up at him.

"Well?" he asked.

I flashed the ring and smiled.

"Let's go home," I said.

James and I returned to the ship and headed back to Ravenswood Cove, lucky for me, I was so exhausted from what I went through that I had fallen asleep the whole trip there. When I woke up, I felt stiff all over my body, like someone had just gotten finished beating the shit out of me.

 _"_ _Ugh, what a night,"_ I thought as I through on my clothes and went topside.

As I opened the door, I shielded my eyes as I was met with bright sunlight.

"Afternoon sleeping beauty," said a voice.

I turned and saw James up at the helm, smiling at me. I smiled back and headed up towards the helm, where he gave me control of the ship.

"We're getting close to home," said James.

"So I see," I said, "and another fine day for sailing, God seems to always bless our voyage."

"Don't put all of your eggs in one basket Sara-Beth, you might lose them all if you're not careful," he said.

James chuckled.

"So tell me something Sara-Beth," he said, "that Balto fellow."

I looked over at James.

"What about him?" I asked.

"What do you think of him?" asked James, "he seems like quite the handsome pirate, no?"

I started to blush.

"Uh… I guess," I said.

"I mean, he really is quite dashing if I do say so myself," said James, "the way he carries himself and the way he moves whenever he's in a fight."

I felt my heart start to flutter.

"Uh… eh-heh, heh yeah… he's a… really cool guy," I said nervously.

"You know, I wonder what his relationship status is," said James.

 _"_ _OH go hiontach (Oh great),"_ I thought nervously.

"I mean, I'm sure he's single right? A strapping, rugged Assassin Pirate like him shouldn't be caught dead single," said James.

I started to feel light-headed, my knees started to wobble.

"I… I'm sure he's with… someone," I said.

"Oh, you're dating him?" asked James.

That question was enough to make my heart ache, in fact, I almost dropped to one knee.

"No! No… I just… I think he's with someone already," I said.

"I don't think so, if he was I would've seen some random chick with him," said James, "it's a shame though when you think about it, I mean I'd be more than happy to snatch him up but… I can't let this little get up go you know?"

I started panting, I started blushing deeply.

"I'm sure… it's a real shame," I said.

James looked over at me.

"Sara-Beth are you okay? You look a little sick," said James.

I quickly nodded.

"Yep, I'm fine, perfectly fine," I lied, "oh look! We're home!"

As soon as I docked in the ship yard, I went to the docks and dropped to my knees, I didn't even bother to report to London and let him know the ship and his men had returned in one piece.

 _"_ _What the hell is wrong with me?"_ I thought, _"why does my heart hurt?"_

I knelt down at the railing and gripped my chest, my heart was hurting, it wasn't full of pain or sadness; but something else…

 _"_ _Could I really have fallen for Balto?"_ I thought as I rose to my feet.

As I turned around and prepared to make my way to the cabin, I ran into… Dag. I let out an alarmed squeak and clapped my hands over my mouth in embarrassment.

"Whoa, a little jumpy are we?" he asked.

"Sorry Dag, I just didn't hear you coming," I said.

Dag smiled and gave me a pat on the head.

"It's alright, it was my fault for scaring you in the first place," he said, "I trust your mission was a success?"

I blushed shamefully.

"Yeah…" I said.

"Good," he said, "now that your targets are dead, Blackheart is finally vulnerable and is perfect for the taking; but first, there's something that I want to give you first. Come with me."

I followed Dag back to the cabin and headed upstairs to a room, when I opened it up, I saw a wooden stand propped up in the middle of everything, and on that stand was a set of robes… Assassin robes like mine only… better. It was armored, the belt had extra pouches and it had sheathes and holsters for my weapons, it also came with a new quiver that was designed to look like my father's. I looked at Dag.

"Put them on," he said.

I gasped and looked back at the robes, without even hesitating, I walked over and started to get changed. When I put my new robes on, I was surprised to feel the difference between these new robes and my old robes, it was a little weighted; but I was still able to move pretty well with it all on myself, aside from the V-neck that exposed my cleavage, I didn't mind this new attire too much. I walked over to a mirror on the wall and looked at myself, I smiled and laughed.

"These are perfect," I said.

Dag turned and laughed as he walked over to me.

"I'm glad that they're too your liking," he said as he put a hand on my shoulder, "now… normally, this would be the part where I call everyone up and we have a ceremony; but I think we can agree that we're both not the type for that kind of thing."

 _"_ _OH Ní ba mhaith liom dul go dtí seo (Oh I wouldn't go that far),"_ I thought.

"You've come a long way from being the same sailor that I met that so long ago, now you've truly come into your own, and if your father was here right now, he would be very proud of you… as am I," said Dag, "welcome to the brotherhood, Sara-Beth."

I smiled and hugged Dag.

"Thank you," I said.

Dag chuckled and hugged me back.

"Don't thank me just yet, there's something else I want to give you," he said, "come with me. Oh… and you can leave your weapons too, with the exception of your wrist blades."

I raised an eyebrow and prepared to ask what else was in store for me; but I just nodded and put my weapons in my room just like he said before following Dag out of the cabin, as Dag and I walked through town, I saw a lot of people staring at the two us… no… staring at me.

"Lose the hood, people might get the wrong idea," said Dag.

"Oh, right," I said.

I pulled my hood off and let my hair down, now I was just getting a lot of looks from the guys… guys who were roughly my age mind you. I blushed as I got a few winks and waves, some of them even blew a few kisses my way as I walked with Dag to our destination.

"Can I be your contract beautiful!?" I heard of them call out.

My face went red, almost as red as my hair! I looked down at the ground.

"Dag… is it the cleavage?" I asked.

Dag looked at me and scratched his head before saying, "Well, we're here."

I looked up and saw that we were at a closed restaurant. I frowned.

"Is this some kind of joke?" I asked.

"Turn the knob," said Dag.

I sighed and turned the knob. The door was unlocked, but how? Dag and I walked inside, I got my wrist blades ready, just in case someone… or something planned to jump out at me. Suddenly, the lights went on...

"Surprise!" everyone shouted.

My jaw dropped, I clapped my hands over my mouth in shock and awe.

"Dag… I…" I started to say.

"Happy birthday, Sara-Beth," he said.

I looked over at Dag.

"You did all of this… for me?" I asked.

"No, Balto did," he said.

I turned and saw Balto walk over to me, I blushed deeply as he hugged me.

"Happy birthday, kiddo," he said.

"Balto… you really did all of this?" I asked.

Balto nodded.

"Of course, I remembered how you told me you haven't celebrated your birthday after the death of your parents that night so… I thought I'd throw this together for you," he said with a smile.

I smiled warmly and buried my face in his chest.

 _"_ _Don't you cry,"_ I thought as I was pushing back the tears, _"don't you cry… dammit, don't you fucking cry."_

But I couldn't hold it in and I started crying.

"Uh… Sara-Beth? You okay?" asked Balto.

I nodded between sobs.

"Tá mé díreach tar éis riamh seo sásta (I've just never been this happy)," I said.

Balto tilted my face up so I would look at him right in the eyes.

"Hey, hey, no waterworks on your birthday kiddo," he said sweetly, "you're going to make it awkward."

I smiled and gave him a playful punch in the face.

"Smartass," I said.

Balto laughed.

"Now, is there anything you want to say to everyone?" he asked, "preferably something in English and not uh… Irish?"

I punched Balto again.

"Smartass," I said, "it's way too quiet in here! This is my birthday everyone, make some noise!"

Everyone erupted in cheers and pounded on the tables, music began to play, the entire crew started playing cards and checkers, dancing and singing, and passing around the rum and food. I smiled as I saw how much everyone was enjoying themselves. As for me, I was having the time of my life, my god… I don't think I've _ever_ drank alcohol before, especially not as much as I consumed tonight, birthday or not, I knew I was probably going to regret it in the morning.

"Red Beard you coileach sucking Brit (cock sucking Brit), get back here!" I yelled in a slurred tone, "mama needs another!"

"Okay, Sara-Beth, okay," said Balto, "I think you've had enough to drink."

I don't know what happened, but before I knew it, I fell into Balto's lap and I was laughing hysterically.

"S-So, this is… this is what it's like… to be a privateerate?" I asked.

"Pirate," Balto said as he pushed me up.

I laughed again.

"Balto, you know I hate it when… when you correct me," I said as a fell back against him.

"Uh… right," he said.

I smiled at him and laughed again.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"Your expression… it looks stuupid," I said sweetly.

Balto blushed.

"What expression?" he asked.

I gingerly reached out and tried to poke his nose, but I think I was giggling too much and I put my hand down.

"You enjoying yourself?" Dag asked as he walked over.

"My head feels like there's fishies in my brain," I said.

I saw Dag look over at Balto.

"I think she's drunk," he said.

"I believe "think" isn't the correct word," said Dag.

The party continued on for another two to three more hours, by the time it was midnight, things started to die down and we all began to make our way back to the cabin… oh, and I started to regain my senses.

"Ugh, my head," I groaned.

"Did you have fun birthday girl?" asked James.

I smiled and said, "Yeah… wait… no… I mean… what happened?"

Okay, I'll be honest, apparently I was so out of it that I didn't even remember a lot of the shit that happened during the party. So…

"Best you let Balto tell you everything," said James, "take it easy Sara-Beth."

James left, Balto helped me back to the cabin, all while telling me what went on during the party when he brought me to my bedroom.

"I did what!?" I demanded.

"Yeah, you uh… You kissed James," said Balto, "you made a bet on who could shoot an arrow through five bottles of whisky and if he won you had to kiss him."

I blushed deeply. I was so embarrassed… so, so, soooooooo embarrassed. It'd be one thing if James was a guy; then I'd be fine with it, but the problem is it's not fine, James is actually Marie Reed! So in other words… oh my god, I'm so embarrassed.

"Something wrong?" asked Balto.

I snapped out of my thoughts.

"No, no, no… nothing's wrong… nothing at all," I lied, "I was just… in shock is all."

"Well, alright," said Balto, "Happy Birthday again Sara-Beth."

As Balto started to go…

"Balto wait," I said.

Balto turned around.

"Could you… stay with me?" I asked.

Balto raised an eyebrow.

"Do you want to talk again?" he asked.

I shook my head, got up and walked over to him. Balto gave me a confused look, before either of us knew it, I grabbed him and pushed him up against my bedroom door.

"S-Sara-Beth? Are you still drunk?" he asked.

I shook my head.

"No… I'm just in love," I said with a smile.

Balto was shocked.

"Huh?" he asked.

"I'm in love with you Balto… deeply, deeply in love with you," I said as I leaned in.

Before Balto could say anything, I kissed him on the lips. It was true, I did love this rugged bastard, every time I'm around him he makes my insides go crazy, like someone fed me full of butterflies and I could feel them fluttering around inside of me wanting to be free. Even though some of the things this guy says makes me angry because… well, because I'm sensitive, I really liked him more than anything. When I pulled away, Balto blushed and looked back at me, he brushed a strand of hair behind my left ear and smiled at me.

"It was my charm wasn't it?" he asked.

I giggled.

"Yeah, let's go with that," I said.

Balto kissed me back, he picked me up in his arms, carried me over, and plopped me on my bed, he took off my left boot and tossed it to the side; but when he took off my right boot, he started to get… affectionate. He moved his hands up my leg and towards the inside of my thigh, making me shiver and let out a light gasp.

"That tickles," I said.

Balto looked up and smiled at me, his hand snaked down and rubbed the back of my leg, I shuddered as his index finger traced right up to the back of my knee, making me let out a gasp.

"Balto I sa-"

But my words were cut off by an unexpected kiss, along with feeling the buttons on my collared shirt become undone. I started to feel my cheeks get hot, not with anger; but with… something else, without even thinking I whispered, "Take me."

Balto laid me on my back, bent down and kissed my collarbone, making me let out a long sigh, I ran my fingers through his hair as Balto moved down and slipped his tongue into my cleavage, making me shudder and let out a soft moan. I looked down and saw Balto unbutton the rest of my shirt, leaving my body completely exposed.

"Consider this my present to you," said Balto.

Before I could ask what he meant, Balto cut my bra strap and practically "peeled" it off of my breasts, when he threw off his shirt and tossed it to the side, things really started to get heated. Balto dove in and started to lick and kiss my neck, his right hand was holding me up by the back, causing me to make a small arch, I started to moan and sigh more and more as Balto moved up and playfully nibbled on my right ear. When he turned to me, Balto and I kissed again, this time with an intense and fiery passion, our arms wrapped around each other in a lover's embrace as we cuddled and… swap spit.

As Balto and I continued kissing and cuddling, I felt his right hand slip out from under my back and snake down towards my pants.

"B-Balto, what are-"

But he cut me off with more kisses, he even went as far as to slip his tongue in between my lips, further increasing my arousal. As his tongue slithered around my mouth, I felt Balto's hand sneak its way into my pants, lightly tugging on my panties and causing me to blush and let out another moan.

 _"_ _H-He's teasing me,"_ I thought as I started panting, _"why is he teasing me?"_

Balto leaned in and locked his lips around my right breast, gingerly sucking on my erect nipple and sending shivers up my spine, I bit my lower lip and whimpered as I tossed my head to the left.

"You're so cute and innocent when I tease you," Balto said as he continued to suck on my breast.

I whimpered and gripped my covers, I was starting to get wet, I felt my heart start racing as Balto started to slip his hand in my panties and start petting my maiden vagina.

 _"_ _This… this is happening… this is really happening,"_ I thought.

As Balto started petting me, shiver after shiver went up my spine, I started breathing faster, I gripped the covers tighter, I moaned and sighed as my body started to become consumed in a pool of ecstasy and pleasure.

"Do you like that?" he asked.

Without even thinking, I looked at Balto and said, "Fuck dom (Fuck me)."

Balto raised an eyebrow.

"Really?" he asked.

"I can't take it Balto," I said lustfully, "fuck dom (fuck me). Fuck dom anois (fuck me now)."

Now I know what you're thinking, and you're right it was the wrong thing to say; but he was teasing me so badly I couldn't take it anymore. Balto looked at me and smiled as he pulled down my pants and my panties as well, he crawled on top, pulled down his pants and underwear as well and slid his cock inside of me. I let out a loud gasp and craned my head, Balto smiled and started thrusting, his cock penetrating deep inside, sending me a wave of pleasure through my body with each deep, pleasurable plunge.

"Go mothaíonn chomh maith sin. Fuck dom níos deacra Balto, a dhéanamh dom scream, a dhéanamh dom scream cosúil leis an cailín olc go atá mé (That feels so good. Fuck me harder Balto, make me scream, make me scream like the bad girl that I've been)," I said.

Balto laughed and started thrusting faster, fucking me harder and penetrating deeper inside of me, it felt good… so good, I gripped his waist and dug my nails into his side, prompting Balto to fuck me even more. When Balto hit a good spot in my orifice, I let out an orgasm.

"Oh my, it looks like you're getting ready to cum," he said warmly.

Balto grabbed my left breast and squeezed it, prompting me to crane my head and let out more pleasurable moans and sighs of lust. When Balto hit that same spot again, I could feel something coming inside of me… I didn't know what it was; but it was coming fast.

"Balto ... I ... Tá mé ... Tá mé ag dul ... Tá mé ag dul a (Balto... I... I'm... I'm gonna... I'm gonna)..!" I started to exclaim.

But it was too late, I arched my back, craned my head and let out an orgasmic cry. I soaked Balto's cock in warm, sticky cum as well as my sheets. Balto came as well, shooting a load of cum and causing a little bit to leak out and drip onto the sheets. I let out a moan as Balto slid his cock out and laid right next to me, I looked over at him and smiled.

"You're so good," I said as I kissed him.

"Thank you," he said with a chuckle.

"Is breá liom tú Balto (I love you Balto)," I whispered.

Balto leaned in and kissed me on the lips.

"I love you too… Sara-Beth," he said sweetly.

Balto wrapped his arms around me and the two of us fell asleep. This was by far the best birthday I've ever had in a long time, and that says something.


	17. Chapter 16: Blackheart strikes back!

Chapter 16

Blackheart strikes back!

I woke up in a haze, I rubbed my tired eyes and looked around my bedroom, feeling deathly confused on why my clothes were on the floor, my sheets look like a dog got a hold of them and why I smelt like sweat and shame. When I turned and saw Balto in bed with me, I looked down and covered myself with the covers.

 _"_ _Now I remember,"_ I thought, blushing deeply.

I couldn't help but smile though, even with the heavy drinking, followed by the hot, steamy sex that I had with Balto, this was a really good birthday.

"Morning," moaned Balto.

I smiled as he spoke in a tired, groggy tone.

"Morning," I said sweetly, "last night was fun."

"Yes, I could tell after you said you wanted me to… what was it you said? Pionós a ghearradh dom máistir, tá mé cailín droch (Punish me master, I've been a bad girl)?" he asked.

I blushed with embarrassment.

"Yeah ... Ní raibh a fhios agam cad a bhí á rá i ndiaidh a thosaigh rudaí a fháil ... téite (Yeah... I didn't know what was saying after things started to get... heated)," I said shamefully.

"Don't be so ashamed," said Balto, "I thought it was kind of cute when you started speaking in Irish… and I'm actually pretty happy you taught me your native tongue because… a number of other things you said, I couldn't make out."

I blushed deeply.

"It was still cute," said Balto.

Balto kissed me and hopped out of bed, he put his briefs pants, and boots on.

"Hey Balto…" I started to say.

"Hmm?" asked Balto.

"I just wanted to say… thanks," I said.

Balto looked at me and chuckled.

"A girl who says "Thank you" after she has sex that's rare," he said.

I threw my pillow at his face.

"No smartass," I said, "I mean… thanks for the party that you all threw me that night. I don't think I've ever had so much fun before."

Balto smiled.

"Well… you know I thought you could use a little… happiness after everything you've gone through," he said.

I smiled.

"You're not just a member of the Sea Wolves Sara-Beth," said Balto, "you're also an Assassin. And from what I could tell, that's an extremely potent mix."

Balto threw on his shirt and vest and made his way towards the door, but not before walking back over to me and giving me a kiss on the lips.

"And you're also… my lover now," he whispered with a grin.

"And you're my lover as well," I whispered back.

Balto walked out of my room, leaving me to get dressed. He was right, I could've used a little happiness, in fact I could feel that very happiness in my heart, filling me with warmth. As I walked out of my bedroom, I ran into Dag, I smiled at him.

"Good morning," I said.

"Good morning yourself," he said, "I trust you slept well?"

I nodded.

"Good, good," he said, "Sara-Beth… I want you to take a walk with me."

I raised an eyebrow.

"A walk? Um… okay," I said.

I put on my boots and followed Dag outside, where he and I started to take a walk around the cove.

"Sara-Beth, do you remember me asking you who your father was? And do you remember me saying I knew him before you were born?" asked Dag.

I nodded.

"I really meant what I said," said Dag, "I knew your father long before you were born, he was a charismatic and strong-willed individual just like yourself. When I first met him, I was but a pirate adrift at sea, a Templar Pirate by the name of Captain Taylor, attacked my ship, stole all of my goods and killed my crew. Of course back then, I didn't have the Sea Wolves, in fact I used to be the captain of a smaller band of pirates called The Midgard Pirates."

"You were the captain of two different crews?" I asked.

Dag nodded.

"When my first crew went down with the ship, I was the only survivor of the attack," he said, "for two weeks I was a drift at sea, waiting for Neptune to take me to the depths of Davy Jones Locker… but when I opened my eyes, I was met with a friendly face, and an open hand. That friendly face… was your father's Sara-Beth."

I saw Dag struggle to push back a few tears.

"Your father… he saved me… he recruited me, trained me, and helped me get revenge on Captain Taylor. Your father helped me become the man I am today Sara-Beth," he said with a sad smile, "I was forever in his debt."

I smiled.

"You miss my father… don't you?" I asked.

"More than you can believe," he said giving me a pat on the back.

I hugged Dag.

"Well… even though I didn't know much about his life… I'm just glad to have known the man who knew him," I said, "thank you Dag."

Dag chuckled and hugged me back.

"I'm just doing what your father wanted me to do," he said, "besides… I owe him even more on account of…"

I looked at Dag.

"On account of what?" I asked.

"Nothing… it's nothing," said Dag, "thank you for walking with me Sara-Beth."

I smiled.

"Sure thing," I said.

Dag headed back to the cabin, I continued walking around the cove, I must say that ever since I killed off Blackheart's lieutenants, things have gotten a little boring. I mean sure it was cool to see a lot of people give me the proper the respect I've always wanted and I was paid way better now than when I was a part of the Cove Guard; but still, there wasn't much-

"Oof!" I grunted.

I was knocked to the ground, when I looked to see who or what it was that knocked me to the ground, I raised an eyebrow: It was just a kid, a kid who looked roughly my age if not younger, he had brown hair and blue eyes though. As I prepared to open my mouth and tell him off for running into me, the kid was tackled to the ground by a couple of older guys.

"Thanks girly," one of them said as he proceeded to punch the brown haired kid in the gut a few times.

I was completely caught off, why the hell were these creeps beating this guy up? What did he do?

"Hey! Hey guys cut that out, leave him alone!" I exclaimed as I tried to pull one of them away.

Suddenly, the guy I pulled away, whirled around and slapped me right in the face, as he walked back over to his friends, something inside of my mind went off; before I knew it, my fist was clenched and I let out a hard sigh. I walked back over to the guy who slapped me, turned him around and punched him square in the jaw, knocking him unconscious. The other three guys turned and gasped when they saw what happened.

"Your friend slapped me," I said.

My, now three opponents, stopped punching the hapless kid and moved towards me, I scoffed and smirked.

 _"_ _I don't need a weapon to kill these assholes,"_ I thought, _"actually, I don't need a weapon to even try and wound them."_

The third guy threw a punch at me, I moved to the side, punched him in the gut, ribs, and jaw; then I knocked him over to wood railing with a good kick to the gut, knocking him unconscious. The fourth guy grabbed me from behind and hand a knife at my throat, but I elbowed him in the stomach, stomped on his foot, grabbed him and snapped his neck, killing him. When I turned to my last opponent, he threw up his hands and slowly backed away.

"Boo," I said with a smile.

The guy turned and ran, for a second, I could've sworn I saw the poor sap piss all inside of his pants. I shook my head and laughed hysterically before turning towards the kid who ran into me.

"Alright kid, who are you?" I asked, "and who were these guys?"

The kid looked up at me, he didn't seem hurt too bad, he just had a few bruises from the punches is all.

"My… My name is Eugene," he said, "those men who were attacking me were just a couple of thugs, they said I cheated them in a game of cards, said that I some had a few cards up my sleeves is all."

"And did you cheat?" I asked.

Eugene shook his head. I put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Then if I were you… I'd play with people who aren't such… sore losers."

Eugene got up and left, but not before thanking me of course. I must say it felt pretty nice to help people a lot more now than when I was a member of the cove guard, especially since I'm both an Assassin and a pirate.

"Well hey there, cutie," said a voice.

I turned and saw Balto walking over to me, I smiled and hugged him when he got close. Balto chuckled as he hugged me back and we swayed from side-to-side.

"Want to take a walk with me?" I asked as I kissed him.

Balto shrugged and nodded, following me down to the docks, where we looked over the sandy beach and out into the ocean in silence, that is until…

"Sara-Beth, I have something to tell you," said Balto, "I knew your father."

I gave Balto a look.

"You're joking," I said.

"Quite the opposite," said Balto, "I knew your father before you were even born."

I looked deep into Balto's eyes, he wasn't joking. As much as I wanted to explode into a mad rage on how even _he_ knew my father, I decided to use a more… subtle approach.

"How do you know my father?" I asked.

"I served under him for quite some time, way before I joined up with Dag," he said.

"What was my father like?" I asked, "was he really an Assassin? Was he really a pirate? Tell me, tell me, tell me."

Balto blushed as I moved closer to him, my eyes growing wider with plead, eager to know about my father's past. Balto smiled at me.

"You and your father practically have near-identical personalities, always curious, quick to crack a joke, always looking for the next adventure," he said, "he was also extremely dense and cocky at times, often butting hits with some of his crew at times, especially his quartermaster."

"Who was his quartermaster?" I asked.

"A man named Kento Briar, he was your father's greatest friend and longtime teammate," said Balto, "those two were the most fearsome Assassin pirates anyone had ever seen, even Dag noted on how in-sync they were while in combat."

"Well… what happened?" I asked.

Balto sighed.

"Your father… he fell for a young woman named Red the Dead," he said.

"Red the Dead?" I asked, "who's she?"

"A young woman that your father fell madly in love with, long before he met your mother," said Balto, "those two were practically in-separable, the rest of the crew often teased your father by saying he was whipped; however, he always kept saying that he's just being mindful of her safety."

"That doesn't exactly tell me what happened between my father and Kent-"

I stopped talking when I saw a ship out in the distance, heading for the cove. I couldn't make out the ship for a second, but after I tapped into my "Eagle Vision" as Dag calls it, I was able to tell what the ship was and who it belonged to.

"It's _The Firestorm_ ," I said, "Blackheart's here."

Balto and I prepared to race back to the cabin when I heard cannon fire in the distance, I turned and saw a volley of flaming cannonballs heading straight for the town.

"Mortars," I said.

"Scatter! Everyone scatter! We're under attack!" Balto called out.

Suddenly, the ground exploded right in front of Balto and I, throwing the two of us to the ground. We quickly got up and raced to the cabin, at the same time, the cove guard had made their way to the docks, armed and ready for combat.

"Dag! Dag!" Balto called out.

Dag came from around a corner, garbed in his Master Assassin attire: A set of armored robes, a pair of heavy soldier boots, a pair of action gauntlets, a sword, his four flintlock pistols, throwing knives, and a knife in his left boot.

"Whoa, nice get up," I said.

"Dag, we've got a problem," said Balto, "Blackheart-"

"Is here, I know, I heard the mortar fire," he said, "go grab your gear and meet us outside with the cove guards."

Balto and I nodded and prepared to go when Dag stopped me.

"Are you ready to do this Sara-Beth?" he asked.

I nodded.

"Good," he said.

I went to go get ready, I threw on my Assassin pirate attire, grabbed my weapons, and followed Balto outside so we could meet up with the rest of the Sea Wolves and the cove guard. Out into the distance, I saw her, _The Firestorm_ drew more and more near, I gripped both of my swords tightly, my adrenaline was pumping, my heart was racing.

 _"_ _Here we go,"_ I thought.

The ship hit the beach, Blackheart's forces jumped down onto the sand and headed towards the town. I heard London give the order…

"Fire!" he barked.

"Fire!" ordered Dag.

We fired on the Templar pirates, killing at least a good seventy-five in the first ten seconds. The rest of them stormed up the stairs and into the streets, where a massive fight ensued between us and them, I don't know what went through my mind; but I found myself backing up as I saw swords and cutlasses flash in the sunlight. I watched as corpses started to pile up in seconds, cove guards, pirates, Assassins, Templars, the whole nine yards. Suddenly a bell went off in my head.

"Look out!"

I whirled around and ducked as a Templar swung on me with his cutlass, I drew my flintlock and shot him in the knee, without hesitating, I charged and drove my right wrist blade into my opponent's ribs, killing him instantly. I looked down at my blade, staring at the shiny crimson blood that ran down the length of my cold, sharp weapon.

 _"_ _This is who I am,"_ I thought, _"I am Sara-Beth Ravenswood, and I am an Assassin!"_

I drew my swords and joined the fray, I jumped at the closest Templar who was engaged in a fight with one of the Assassins and slashed him across the belly when he raised his axe to take my friend's head off, then I got him in the back with a double sword strike.

"Thank you Sara-Beth," he said, "I owe you one."

"Feicfidh mé tú a shealbhú dó (I'll hold you to it)," I said with a wink.

When I turned around, I leaned back as another Templar tried to drive his sword through my neck, thinking fast, I dropped to the ground, grabbed my opponent with my feet and with a twist I brought him down with a hard thud. Before he could have a chance to get up, I drove both of my swords into his stomach, killing him.

 _"_ _This is almost too easy,"_ I thought, _"with all of the efforts I put into my training-"_

BOOM!

I mortar round exploded just a few feet away, throwing me to the ground with a hard thud.

 _"_ _Ugh… never mind,"_ I thought painfully.

"We need to take out those mortars!" someone called out.

"We need them taken out or this is going to be short fight!" another person called out.

I looked around and saw a lot of my allies were caught in a heated fight with Blackheart's forces. I looked down at my swords and gripped them tightly.

 _"_ _I guess it's up to me,"_ I thought as I sheathed my weapons.

I charged towards the ship, ducking and dodging swinging swords and flintlock pistol rounds on my way to my destination, when I arrived at the pier, I took the stairway down to the beach; however, I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw two brigs sail over and dock next to Blackheart's ship.

 _"_ _Those obviously aren't ours,"_ I thought as I continued to make my way towards Blackheart's ship.

When I was just five feet away, I was confronted by seven of Blackheart's goons.

"Well, well, well, looks like we have ourselves a little lamb that's gotten separated from her flock," said one of the Templars.

"Do you know what we do to little lambs that get separated girl?" asked the second Templar, "we cut them open, cook 'em up, and serve 'em with a side of bread and rum."

"Wow… that's not nasty," I said.

I drew both of my flintlock pistols and fired, hitting the fifth and third Templar in the chest and killing them dead. My remaining opponents looked at me, then they looked at their friends, and finally they looked at me, they drew their weapons and engaged. At the same time, I drew both of my swords and blocked the first two sword strikes before jumping back and stabbing the seventh Templar in the stomach, killing him.

"Taispeáin dom buachaillí dea-am (Show me a good time boys)," I beckoned as I pulled out my sword, "Faighim leamh i ndáiríre go héasca (I get bored really easily)."

With a flirty wink, they all attacked at once again; but I wasn't scared, I simply entered my _Blade Dancer's Trance_ and started moving with incredible speed, blocking, parrying, ducking, and even countering all of their attacks. When the first and second Templar jumped at me from behind, I blocked, struck the first Templar in the jaw with a strong kick, then blocked and countered his friend's attack with a spinning slash across his chest. When I turned around, I jumped back as the first Templar swung on me, without hesitating, I drew my bow along with an arrow, pulled back and fired, shooting my opponent in the side of the neck. I stifled a laugh as he let out a yelp and fell over, coughing and gasping for breath.

"Sorry, I was aiming for your face," I said as I sheathed my bow.

Just then, the fourth Templar grabbed me from behind, allowing the sixth Templar to get a few punches on me before drawing his knife.

"I'm gonna stick you, ya little bitch," he growled.

"Stick this," I said.

I kicked the knife out of his hand, turned the fourth Templar around and rammed him into his friend, causing him to let go. Without wasting another second, I drew my sword and skewered the bastards, killing them both. As I continued to make my way towards the ship, I stopped, turned and fired an arrow at the second Templar, ending his suffering.

 _"_ _I hate it when they're lying on the floor dying,"_ I thought as I started climbing onto the ship.


	18. Chapter 17: Expect me!

Chapter 17

"Expect me!"

As I jumped onto the ship, I saw Blackheart's crew preparing to load more rounds into the mortars, I whistled to them.

"Hug! Assholes, os cionn anseo (Hey! Assholes, over here)!" I called out.

That got their attention…

"Get that little whore," one of the mortar men ordered.

I rolled my eyes, why do people keep calling me that? Three Templars approached me, their boarding axes flashing at me, menacingly. I drew both of my flintlock pistols and fired, shooting two of them in the head and killing 'em instantly. When the last Templar approached, I holstered my firearms, drew my bow and fired two arrows at his chest, killing him.

When I turned, the mortar crew marched over to me, their daggers… dirks I think they're called… flashed at me.

"Heh-heh, I'm going to carve you into little pieces kid," one of them said.

I smirked.

"Alright, come and get me," I said as I beckoned them.

The Templars engaged me. I drew my swords and blocked the first two strikes, when the other two Templars attacked, I shoved my first two opponents back, blocked and parried the next set of attacks, jumped and slammed my shoulder into the third Templar, knocking him back a few steps.

"D'fhéadfadh liom a bheith ina kid, ach beidh mé a ciceáil fós do thóin (I might be a kid, but I'll still kick your ass)," I said with a smug grin.

Just then, a bell went off in my head, I blocked an attack from behind, spun around and struck the second Templar in the jaw with my elbow. When I looked to my left, I blocked, parried, blocked, and dodged a series of oncoming strikes from the fourth Templar, before I blocked and countered his attack by disarming him of his dagger and driving both of my swords through his stomach, killing him. Just then, I leaned back as the third Templar swung on me with a boarding axe.

"Watch the face, goddammit! It's my only asset!" I snapped.

Sure enough, that caused the first Templar to grab me from behind and have his dagger at my throat, but I elbowed him in the ribs and slashed him across the chest, the poor fool dropped to the floor and fell over dead. I turned and jumped at the third Templar, swinging both of my swords at his neck; but he stepped to the right and struck me with the back of his hand.

"Miss me, miss me," he mocked.

I growled and sheathed both of my swords, I stood up tall, extended a hand and beckoned him. The Templar smirked and charged, when he swung, I reached up and grabbed the axe. The Templar wasn't happy.

"Hey! Give me that you little brat!" he demanded as he pulled.

Big mistake, when he pulled me towards him, I ejected both of my wrist blades and jammed them into his chest, killing him dead as he hit the deck.

"Dodge go (Dodge that)," I said.

When I turned around, I took a blow to the stomach from the second Templar, dropping me down to one knee, gasping for breath.

"You mother fucker," I gasped.

When I looked up, I was faced with the barrel of a flintlock.

"So, Assassin, want to see if there's an afterlife?" he asked with a sinister laugh.

Thinking fast, I swept my leg out and brought the Templar down before he could fire; then I jumped on top and stabbed him in the neck with my left wrist blade, killing him.

"Tell me what it's like when you come back," I said with a wink.

I walked over to the mortars and examined them.

 _"_ _How the hell am I going to sabotage these things? Wait… do I even know how to sabotage ship cannons? Let alone mortar cannons!?"_ I thought.

I looked back up at the town and then back at the cannons, I shook my head and cursed.

"Fuck sé (Fuck it), I'll just do this," I said.

Working fast, I charged down to the lower decks and managed to find a hammer, I grabbed it off of the shelf and dragged it topside. Using my newfound strength, I raised the hammer, pulled back and swung with all of my might, smashing the hammer against the cannon barrel. The shock from the blow was so strong, I dropped the hammer and cursed from the pain that shot up through my arms, I even fought back against the tears of pain as well.

 _"_ _Mac óil bainne, fucker ag fuck (Son of a milk drinking, fucker fuck)!"_ I thought.

I had to come up with another plan, so I went down towards the bottom of the mortar cannons and used the hammer to smash the loading hatch, jamming it.

"That should do it," I said with satisfaction, "no to head back to-shit!"

I jumped back as I saw a sword come for my throat, when I looked to see who it was, I gasped: It was Blackheart!

"You little shit, you killed off my Lieutenants and top ranking officers," he growled, "you've practically stripped me of access to my resources here in the Caribbean! Now… you're going to pay for it."

"You want me? Fine, come and get me," I said.

I threw a smoke bomb in Blackheart's face and ducked out of his ship. I ran as fast as I could and leaped into the water, swimming to shore and heading towards the stairs leading to the fight, all while Blackheart was taking shots at me. As I made it to the first step, I stopped and turned.

 _"_ _You've been training for this moment,"_ I thought.

I turned and faced Blackheart as he approached me, my swords were drawn and I was in my battle stance, ready to take on my nemesis.

"You're standing your ground?" he asked.

"I'm done running from you," I growled.

I lunged forward and crossed swords with Blackheart, sparking our duel. Blackheart might've been an Assassin Hunter; but I am a fully trained Assassin, I am the daughter of the legendary Raven Lord himself, and dammit I'm going to beat him.

"Your father's blood runs through you child," Blackheart said as he blocked and parried each of my attacks, "but you're still just a little girl, with so much left to learn."

When I went for a spinning kick, Blackheart ducked and kicked me right in the cheek; then he punched me in the face and knocked me over with a good kick to the chest. I spat out blood and kicked him in the stomach when he came for me, I jumped to my feet and lashed out with a flurry of slashes, forcing Blackheart on the defense. When I went for a twin sword slash, Blackheart parried, moved to my left and tried to kick me right in the back; but I blocked and kicked him right in the nose, when I jumped at him, the two of us locked blades. I pushed against Blackheart with all of my strength until he thrust his sword up into the air, breaking the lock and allowing me to knock him on his ass with a jump kick, when I landed in the sand, I jumped to my feet as quickly as I could.

"Dag has nothing left to teach me," I said.

"Ah, but he does," Blackheart said as he rose to his feet, "Dag never told you why I killed your mother and father… did he? He never told you about who I was."

"I was informed enough," I said, "you were once a man named Kento Briar, a man who was a friend of my father's many years ago."

Blackheart laughed.

"Is that all!?" he exclaimed, "Dag you foolish oaf, to think that you call me a traitor, yet you're keeping secrets from the Raven Lord's own daughter."

I growled.

"Well, it doesn't matter now, you won't be able to know more about me once you're dead," said Blackheart.

Just then, a bell went off in my head.

 _"_ _MOVE!"_ I thought.

I jumped to the right as Blackheart drew one of his pistols and fired on me. I charged forward, our blades slamming against each other with incredible force, sparks lit the air on fire as Blackheart and I fought it out on the beach. At one point during our duel, Blackheart actually managed to disarm me of my left blade; I wasn't too worried, I was trained to wield a single sword as well as two, the trick is to form a staunch defense. When Blackheart and I slashed low, then high, and turned and locked blades to the side, I took a bold gamble and grabbed him by the shirt collar… unfortunately…

"You Assassin filth!" he exclaimed.

He grabbed my hand and hoisted me up.

"How dare you touch me," he growled.

He raised his sword, preparing to cut my hand off, but swung my leg forward and struck him right in the shin, causing Blackheart to let me go so I could slam into him with my shoulder. Blackheart was knocked back a few steps, but he was disoriented none-the-less. I looked up at my opponent and prepared to finish this fight with a leaping thrust when I was faced with his other flintlock pistol.

"And so ends the Ravenswood legacy," he said.

"Yeah, and at the cost of your crew," I said pointing at the fleeing Templars.

Blackheart gasped as he saw his crew fleeing to the ship, I smiled, I couldn't believe it! We managed to push them back.

"Bah! You dammed Assassins… You dammed Wolves!" exclaimed Blackheart, "it's time to die, daughter of Rowland."

Before I could even react, Blackheart fired and I was shoved to the ground. I looked up to see who shoved me out of the way, fearful that it might've been Balto… but what I saw… who I saw… almost made me shit all over the sand.

"NO!" I screamed.

Dag… Assassin Master and Captain of the Sea Wolves… had just took the bullet head on. He looked down at the bullet hole, dropped to his knees and fell over, I ran to his side as tears starting pouring down my face.

"Dag… Dag…" I sobbed, "why did you do that?"

"Because… you can't die… not yet anyway," said Dag, "I made… a promise to your father… long before you were born. And I can't… go back on that promise."

I didn't know what Dag was talking about and quite frankly I didn't care, he needed help and fast.

"Dag, wait here, I'll go get-"

"No," he interrupted, "I want this… Sara-Beth, look at me I'm sixty-two years old, I can't keep going like this… he-he, this isn't exactly how I wanted to go either too mind you but… I can't complain."

I didn't respond.

"Sara-Beth… do you remember when I said… not to get caught up in revenge?" asked Dag.

I nodded.

"I said that… because you weren't… ready to take your revenge," Dag said as his voice started to become faint, "you had… raw, uncontrolled skills that needed to be honed… and now they have… you Sara-Beth… you are ready to take… your revenge."

Dag wiped away my tears and smiled at me.

"Remember me Sara-Beth… not as Captain Dag… or Master Dag… remember me as… Marcus… the man who could've never been… happier to call someone… like you… a… daughter," whispered Dag.

And as he gave his last breath, Dag closed his eyes and went still… unmoving… unbreathing… dead. I cried again and felt my nails dig into the palms of my right hand as I clenched my fist in anger. I turned towards Blackheart, who was on his way back towards his ship.

"HEY!" I called out.

Blackheart turned, I pointed at the bastard and let out a huff.

"You came for me… now, I'm coming for you," I snarled, "expect me."

Blackheart didn't say anything, he just walked away, leaving me alone to wallow in my sadness.


	19. Chapter 18: Inheritance

Chapter 18

Inheritance

That same night… we all collected our dead and buried them… turns out most of the Sea Wolves weren't exactly trained to fight Templar soldiers, and neither were the Cove Guard, so we suffered a lot of casualties for a single victory… if you could even call it that. As for Dag, we all went down to the beach and said what each of us wanted to say before we… gave him a proper funeral: Burning on the pyre.

"Is there anyone who wishes to say a few words before we let Dag… cross over?" asked Sceezor.

When no one else wanted to step forward, I went forward and went to his body, I placed my hand on his chest and felt the tears roll down my face again.

"Tá tú ag faire thar dom ... nuair a tógadh mo thuismitheoirí uaim (You've watched over me... when my parents were taken from me)," I said sadly, "atá déanta agat bhraitheann mé mar a bhí mé mar chuid de theaghlach arís ... Tá tú mhúin an oiread sin dom faoi mo oidhreacht, faoi cad tá mé. Cé go bhfuil tú imithe ... tá a fhios go ní bheidh mé dearmad ar an fear a bhfuil cóireáil dom cosúil le iníon ... is féidir liom súil agam go bhfuil tú ... mo athair ... agus beidh mháthair a bheith cairde arís ar an taobh eile ... Farewell Marcus ... An chuid eile i síocháin (you've made me feel like I was a part of a family again... You've taught me so much about my heritage, about what I am. Though you are gone... know that I will never forget the man who has treated me like a daughter... I do hope that you... my father... and mother will be friends again on the other side... Farewell Marcus... Rest in peace)."

I stepped back, I watched as Ripjaw stepped forward and laid the torch by Marcus and the whole pyre started to go up in flames. As I stared into the fire, I felt my heart become heavy, I started to get choked up… and… I started to sing. This song was something that my father would always sing to me whenever I was sad and needed cheering up…

 _"_ _Upon one summer's morning, I carelessly did stray,_

 _Down by the Walls of Wapping, where I met a sailor gay,_

 _Conversing with a bouncing lass, who seem'd to be in pain,_

 _Saying, William, when you go, I fear you will ne'er return again._

 _His hair it does in ringlets hang, his eyes as black as sloes,_

 _May happiness attend him wherever he goes,_

 _From Tower Hill, down to Blackwall, I will wander, weep and moan,_

 _All for my jolly sailor bold, until he does return._

 _My father is a merchant—the truth I now will tell,_

 _And in great London City in opulence doth dwell,_

 _His fortune doth exceed ₤300,000 in gold,_

 _And he frowns upon his daughter, 'cause she loves a sailor bold._

As I continued, I picked up the sound of Balto, Dag's officers, and the rest of the crew chime in with me…

 _"_ _A fig for his riches, his merchandize, and gold,_

 _True love is grafted in my heart; give me my sailor bold:_

 _Should he return in poverty, from o'er the ocean far,_

 _To my tender bosom, I'll fondly press my jolly tar._

 _My sailor is as smiling as the pleasant month of May,_

 _And oft we have wandered through Ratcliffe Highway,_

 _Where many a pretty blooming girl we happy did behold,_

 _Reclining on the bosom of her jolly sailor bold._

 _Come all you pretty fair maids, whoever you may be_

 _Who love a jolly sailor bold that ploughs the raging sea,_

 _While up aloft, in storm or gale, from me his absence mourn,_

 _And firmly pray, arrive the day, he home will safe return._

 _My name it is Maria, a merchant's daughter fair,_

 _And I have left my parents and three thousand pounds a year,_

 _My heart is pierced by Cupid, I disdain all glittering gold,_

 _There is nothing can console me but my jolly sailor bold."_

By the time the song ended, the flames had already started to consume Dag… Marcus's body. I turned as I felt Balto put a hand on my shoulder.

"Where'd you learn that shanty?" he asked.

"My father used to sing it to me whenever I was sad," I said as I wiped away my tears, "the way he sang it… the song was so soothing… it was enough to lull me to sleep as well."

Balto smiled at me and gave me a hug.

"Come on, let's head back to the cabin," he said.

The next day, things around the cove were… dull and quiet, ever since Dag's death, the crew have been trying to find things to keep themselves occupied; but to no avail, even Balto and I couldn't find things to keep our minds occupied after what happened.

It wasn't until Friday, that we all gathered inside of the living room so that we could discuss something important: Who was next in line to be captain?

"Without Dag to lead us, who's going to give us orders?" asked Ripjaw.

"Who's going to lead us to vengeance against Blackheart?" asked Atkins.

"Well we have to pick someone, otherwise we won't have any other choice but to disband the Sea Wolves," said Gordon.

"No way!" I exclaimed.

Everyone turned towards me, I blushed and slinked into a corner with embarrassment.

"Sorry," I squeaked.

"No, Sara-Beth's right, we can't disband the Sea Wolves," said Balto, "not after everything we've been through. I mean look how strong we've become since the time of The Night Ravens."

"The Night Ravens are gone Balto, no one's heard about them since Rowland was around," said Vincent.

"Gone or not, we're practically their legacy, if we disband their legacy will die," said Balto, "now come on, we need to figure out who's going to take Dag's place."

"It's Sara-Beth," said a voice.

It felt like my ears perked up, I turned and saw one of the crewmen, a scruffy pirate wearing a vest and sleeveless t-shirt, walk out from… god knows where.

"Gabh mo leithscéal (Excuse me)?" I asked.

"I found his Will in his room," said the pirate, "judging by the look of it, I'd guess Dag must've made this some time ago… like possibly before Sara-Beth even joined us."

"That's impossible, there's no way it says that Sara-Beth is next in line for the mantle of captain," said Vincent.

Balto walked over to the pirate and looked at the Will, I watched closely as his eyes skimmed over the words until they went wide, he looked up at us and put the Will on the table.

"It's not impossible," he said, "Sara-Beth's next in line."

I looked at Balto and started laughing.

"Pfft, ah-hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! I'm sorry Balto, I really am," I said with a soft giggle, "for a second there, ah-heh, heh I thought you said I was… next in line. Ah-hahahaha! Whoo, you almost had me there."

My laughter slowly faded though, when I noticed that Balto wasn't even laughing with me, and neither were the crew.

"Whoa, fan, tá tú dáiríre (Whoa, wait, you're serious)!?" I exclaimed.

I walked over and read the Will.

"…if I shall die before I see the fall of Blackheart and his crew, I hereby leave command of my crew and my ship in the hands of Sara-Beth Marianne Ravenswood…" it read.

I felt my heart start to beat against my chest, my head started to feel light, like there was helium inside of it, my knees got weak and I started panting.

 _"_ _Me… He gave command over to me… but why? I'm just an Assassin pirate, I don't know how to command a crew or even sail a ship!"_ I thought, _"is this some kind of trick? Am I dreaming?"_

"Sara-Beth?" asked Balto, "are you okay?"

"I need air," I said breathlessly, "I… I can't breathe."

I dropped Dag's Will and stumbled outside, I kept panting breathlessly and looked up at the sky, why me? Why did he make me an Assassin, let me join his crew, just so I could take over as captain when he died? Just then, I remembered something that Dag said before he died, something about a promise… a promise he made to my father before I was born… what was that promise though?

 _"_ _I need to head… home,"_ I thought.

And that's exactly what I did, I haven't stepped inside of my own house in years… probably since that frightful night… when Blackheart killed my mother and father. The very thought of that night made shivers run up my spine, leaving me riddled with goosebumps, as I approached the door and turned the knob I felt something was wrong.

 _"_ _Locked?"_ I thought, _"hmm, key… key… what I need is a key."_

I looked around and felt along the doorframe, feeling for a seam. If I know my father, it's that he was always full of secrets and tricks that he never taught me when I was little, still I remember him doing this one time when I couldn't get inside of the house one time.

 _"_ _Found it,"_ I thought with a smile.

I ejected my wrist blade, slowly wedged it into the seam and pulled out the key, catching it in my hand as it fell out of the doorframe. I unlocked the door and went inside, I looked around and saw that everything was still the way it was after the raid: Smashed plates, broken glass, cracked lanterns and crushed candles… it was like walking back in time to the past.

 _"_ _Just find what you're looking for and get out Sara-Beth,"_ I thought with a sigh, _"question is… what is it that I'm looking for?"_

Using my Eagle's Sight, I looked for any kind of clue that my father might've left for me to stumble upon by mistake... or by accident… or whichever. Suddenly, I saw something standing across from me, near the stairway leading upstairs, it was a figure… a figure garbed in sleek, black Assassin robes, he was staring at me for a good two minutes, not moving… not speaking… just… waiting for me.

 _"_ _Am I seeing things?"_ I thought with slight concern.

Just then, the Assassin made his way upstairs.

"Hey. Hey!" I called out, "hey wait a minute!"

I followed the Assassin upstairs and met him by the rope leading to the attic, I looked at him, he pointed at the rope.

"You want me to climb up inside?" I asked.

The Assassin nodded and walked passed me, fading away as I turned and watched him go. I felt a small shiver go up my spine.

 _"_ _Father?"_ I thought.

I looked back at the rope hanging from the attic door and pulled it down, unfolding the ladder and heading up, inside of the attic was a treasure trove of assorted items and priceless artifacts that my father collected over the years. I remember coming up here once… I asked my father if really was a pirate when he was younger and he brought me up here so I could admire all of his priceless trophies… I had no idea that he actually spoke true about being a real pirate back then… as well as an Assassin.

As I walked throughout the attic, I saw something that caught my eye: It was a chest, a very large chest, right next to the attic window. I walked over to the chest and knelt down by it, attached to the chest was a lock, a lock that didn't look like it could hold a key. I looked at the lock a little closer and noticed what made it so different.

 _"I wonder,"_ I thought.

I ejected my right wrist blade and stuck the tip of it into the lock, giving it a few jerks and turns until…

 _Click!_

 _"Bingo,"_ I thought with a smile.

I removed the lock, opened the chest and gasped, inside of the chest was a bunch of items… items belonging to my father.

 _"My father… kept these?"_ I thought, _"but why?"_

There was everything inside of this chest, old treasure maps, priceless treasures and artifacts, gold and jewels to make a girl go crazy, and possibly the biggest piece (or pieces of treasures my father stored away so long ago: His old Assassin gear.

 _"My father… was the legendary Raven Lord,"_ I thought with disbelief.

I looked at my father's robes, they were sleek black and had a small feathered cape in the back, the robes also came with armor as well… my guess was that the armor protected him from certain sword attacks. I looked at his pistols and admired their handiwork, as well as the work of my father's old sword, I looked at everything inside of my father's chest, including… two strange looking artifacts that appeared to look like… like…

 _"What are these?"_ I thought.

I blew some of the dust off of one of the artifacts and looked at it. Suddenly, the artifact started to glow and there was a massive flash, when the bright light faded, I was shocked to find myself standing near my own father and Marcus!

 _"What the fuck? What is this? Is this some kind of illusion? Or is this something else?"_ I thought as I looked around, _"am… Am I at the cove?_ Is _this the cove? It looks so different."_

"Have you seen to my things?" asked Rowland.

"Yes, your books will come back with me to the headquarters, your treasures have been moved to the attic in your house, and your ship has been hidden," said Marcus, "don't worry, we made sure that The Grimmclaw wasn't severely damaged like you requested when we hid it."

"Good," said Rowland.

"Rowland… I don't understand… why did you my help with seeing to your things if you didn't intend to keep most of them?" asked Marcus.

I watched my father reach into his pocket and pull out something shiny and metallic, an artifact of some kind… an artifact I haven't even seen.

"This artifact has shown me things Marcus, things that the world is not yet ready to see just yet," said Rowland, "Marcus I want you to keep it safe as well, bury it under the manor, place it in the hands of the Assassins or drop it into the sea. This artifact must not fall into Templar hands."

Marcus nodded. I was confused, was this the promise he mentioned? And what was that artifact?

"I'll see to it that it's done old friend," said Marcus.

"Good," Rowland said as he turned.

For a second, I thought my own father saw me; but when I turned I saw something that made my heart ache: It was me… with mother.

 _"Mommy?"_ I thought sadly.

"You know she's going to want to follow in your footsteps," said Marcus.

I whirled around fast and saw my father nod.

"I know… but she's not ready yet my friend," said Rowland, "Sara-Beth is too young to understand about my past… the things I've seen and done…"

"Rowland, you're her father, you have to tell her about your past some time," said Marcus.

"And when she's ready, I will," said Rowland, "…just not right now… not while she's still young. When she's older I'll tell her about my past… about The Night Ravens… about The Assassins."

"And what happens when Kento hunts you down and ends your life before you have a chance to tell her whatever she wants to know about your past?" asked Marcus.

I looked at my father, who looked at Marcus and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Then I want you to make me a promise Marcus," said Rowland.

"Anything my friend," said Marcus.

"Promise me… that you'll train her," said Rowland, "promise me that you'll take her in. Train her, mold her into an Assassin, tell her about her heritage. It's what she deserves… she deserves to know about her old man's past."

I gasped.

"You want your daughter to rebuild The Night Ravens," said Marcus.

My father nodded.

"I don't know when my time on this planet will end… but if it's around the corner… if it comes soon… if I'm unable to defeat Kento when he finds me again… I want my daughter to finish what I've started," he said, "promise me what you'll train my daughter."

"Of course my friend," said Marcus, "I promise."

I watched as the two hugged. Just then, there was another bright flash and I was back in the attic again.

 _"That was the promise?"_ I thought, _"then… what does this artifact hold?"_

I looked at the other artifact and there was another bright flash. When the light faded, I looked around and saw my father making his way towards the end of the cove under the cover of darkness. I raised an eyebrow and watched as he pulled out an artifact… it was the same artifact I was holding!

"Hello my daughter," he said to the artifact.

I held in a gasp.

 _"He didn't see me… did he?"_ I thought.

"If you've found this message, then that means I've left this world," he said, "there's a lot that I've told you when you were younger… you remember don't you? Those night time stories about Assassins, Templars, and The Night Ravens? Haha, it always warmed my heart when you smiled every time I told you a new story each night. That is why I thought I would… record these messages for you, so that when you're older and you stumble upon these artifacts you would believe me when I tell you… they're true."

I felt my eyes start to water.

"Please understand Sara-Beth, that I did not tell you those stories just to entertain you; but because when you were ready… when you were old enough to understand… I would show you everything that I've kept hidden from you for so long," he said, "I have seen things my daughter… things that this world has yet to see or even know about… things that you wouldn't believe me if I told you right now. I have done things… things that I'm not proud of even to this very day. Sara-Beth… you have been born with a truly incredible gift… a gift that will make you a very important key in what's going on at this very moment."

I didn't say anything. My father continued.

"There's a lot I can't reveal however, as there are certain things that I have to tell you… that you would need to see for yourself," said Rowland, "you… will face many dangers and go on many quests my daughter, dangers and quests that will make you see the world for what it truly is, a world full of secrets that have yet to be discovered… secrets that you will discover on accident or that you'll discover out of curiosity. Do not let deter you from who you want to be though Sara-Beth, I made my choice many years ago when I was your age, I want you to have a choice on how you want to live."

I squeezed my eyes shut as I felt tears roll down my face.

"Sara-Beth… if you have any misgivings towards me from keeping such secrets from you… I want you to know that you have every right to be angry with me," said Rowland, "but as I told you that I didn't do this just to protect you, I did it because you would've been too young to understand what I've gone through. But if you understood everything I've said in this message… if you have no misgivings towards your old man… I hereby give you possession of my robes, my weapons, my treasures, my maps, and my ship _The Grimmclaw_. You are Sara-Beth Marianne Ravenswood, daughter of Jasmine and Rowland Ravenswood, your mother and father. Carry our name well."

I stifled a sob. I watched as my father started to cry himself as he looked out towards the sea… and he started to sing…

 _"_ _Upon one summer's morning, I carelessly did stray,_

 _Down by the Walls of Wapping, where I met a sailor gay,_

 _Conversing with a bouncing lass, who seem'd to be in pain,_

 _Saying, William, when you go, I fear you will ne'er return again._

 _His hair it does in ringlets hang, his eyes as black as sloes,_

 _May happiness attend him wherever he goes,_

 _From Tower Hill, down to Blackwall, I will wander, weep and moan,_

 _All for my jolly sailor bold, until he does return._

 _My father is a merchant—the truth I now will tell,_

 _And in great London City in opulence doth dwell,_

 _His fortune doth exceed ₤300,000 in gold,_

I smiled at my father, even though he couldn't see me, or even hear me, I decided to chime in with him…

 _And he frowns upon his daughter, 'cause she loves a sailor bold._

 _A fig for his riches, his merchandize, and gold,_

 _True love is grafted in my heart; give me my sailor bold:_

 _Should he return in poverty, from o'er the ocean far,_

 _To my tender bosom, I'll fondly press my jolly tar._

 _My sailor is as smiling as the pleasant month of May,_

 _And oft we have wandered through Ratcliffe Highway,_

 _Where many a pretty blooming girl we happy did behold,_

 _Reclining on the bosom of her jolly sailor bold._

 _Come all you pretty fair maids, whoever you may be_

 _Who love a jolly sailor bold that ploughs the raging sea,_

 _While up aloft, in storm or gale, from me his absence mourn,_

 _And firmly pray, arrive the day, he home will safe return._

 _My name it is Maria, a merchant's daughter fair,_

 _And I have left my parents and three thousand pounds a year,_

 _My heart is pierced by Cupid, I disdain all glittering gold,_

 _There is nothing can console me but my jolly sailor bold."_

My father chuckled and stuffed the artifact in his pocket, he wiped the tears off of his face and smiled at the setting sun.

"Is breá liom tú Sara-Beth riamh, déan dearmad go (I love you Sara-Beth, never forget that)," he said, "slán (goodbye)."


	20. Chapter 19: The new Raven Queen

Chapter 19

The new Raven Queen

The recording ended, I dropped the artifacts and cried. I wiped the tears from my face and sniffled, looking down at my father's old gear and smiling. I've always wondered why my father never told me about his past… and though this was nothing more than a recording… he told me his reasoning nonetheless… and… I'm happy that he told me.

 _"_ _An chuid eile i síocháin, athair (Rest in peace, father),"_ I thought as I bowed my head.

I turned around and saw the ladder to the attic was still down.

"I know you're there," I said.

Balto poked his head up and climbed inside.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snoop," he said as he blushed, "I just… wanted to see if you're okay."

I nodded.

"I'll live," I said.

Balto walked over and hugged me.

"I'm sorry… you must be hurting having to… see whatever it was you've seen," he said.

"I'm not hurting," I said, "if anything I'm… happy. Happy that I've learned all I could about my heritage, about my father's past, all of this here is a wake up to who I am, why I've been inducted into the Assassins."

"What are you saying?" asked Balto.

I only turned towards Balto in response, causing him to turn around so I could change into my father's… _my_ new gear: my father's robes, his armor, his boots, his gloves, his weapons. It felt good… so good to wear my father's robes on my back, I walked over to a nearby mirror and looked at myself, the robes seemed a little big; but I knew I'd grow into them in time.

"My father was Rowland Ravenswood, the infamous Raven Lord himself and leader of The Night Ravens," I said, "if he is The Raven Lord, then that gives me the right to assume his mantle. It's time for the crew to meet… The Raven Queen."

When Balto and I turned to face each other, he blushed deeply and smiled, he even went as far as to bow before me and say, "I am at your service, Raven Queen."

I walked over and bopped him on the head.

"Don't be a kiss ass," I said as I headed out of the attic.

"Wait, what about your father's treasure trove?" Balto asked as he hopped down from the attic.

"Blackheart comes first," I said as I shut the attic.

I pulled up my hood and headed back to the cabin, with Balto following close behind me, I must say I never knew how much weight my father's name carried… or these robes. All around me, people backed away in shock and fear when they saw me march through the streets.

"Who's that?"

"Isn't that Captain Dag's prodigy?"

"Holy shit!"

"Dear God, it's the Raven Lord, he's come back!"

"No… that must be his daughter."

"It's the Raven Lord's daughter!"

I smiled under my hood, this is what it must've felt like for my father, to have all of this wealth, power, and authority; and since I'm my father's daughter, all of that wealth, power, and authority now belongs to me. When Balto and I arrived at the cabin and I walked in the door, I caught one of the officers, Caleb, mention on how they don't have a captain and no one next in line to take the title.

"Yeah we do," said Balto, "she's right here."

Everyone turned and gasped when they saw me in my father's robes and armor, like they were staring at my father himself. They all stood up and looked at me, some of them were in shock, others were in awe; but all together, I could tell that they were happy to see me accept the mantle of Captain.

"Alright, listen up, Blackheart's gone too far. He can take away our riches and prized possessions, he can take away our morale; but when he takes away the people that we've come to love and care for over the years… that's when we decide that enough is enough," I said, "we're going to hunt down that bastard, and we're going to put him and his crew in his place once and for all! We will make them pay for trying to destroy the Sea Wolves!"

Everyone in the cabin cheered.

"So I ask you my brothers and sisters, followers of the late Captain Dag, allies of The Night Ravens and my father Rowland Ravenswood," I said, "will you join me? Will you follow me to seek vengeance? Will you unite… under the Sea Wolf banner!?"

Everyone cheered and raised their mugs in a unified battle cry, chanting and stomping their boots on the floor.

"Raven Queen! Raven Queen! Raven Queen!" they chanted.

They were right to chant that name, this was my destiny… no, this _is_ my destiny, I wasn't just Sara-Beth Ravenswood, daughter of Rowland and Jasmine Ravenswood. I am Sara-Beth Marianne Ravenswood, Assassin Pirate and the new Raven Queen.

 _"_ _And the time has come to go to war,"_ I thought.


	21. Chapter 20: The final confrontation

Chapter 20

The final confrontation

It was Sunday, and my crew and I were out on the hunt, having repaired the ship after it had sustained collateral damage during Blackheart's raid, we were now ready to take the fight to the Blackheart and his Templars. James Kidd, having heard the news about Dag's death, informed me that he would be keeping an eye on Blackheart's movement's, that was on Thursday last week.

Last I heard, James said he was on his way to the Caribbean to meet with a group of high ranked Templars, his "superiors" as James calls them. I'm not interested in hunting down those chumps, I want Blackheart and I'm going to get him. Which is precisely why I and my crew have gone out to intercept him.

"So what do you plan to do? Do you plan to kill Blackheart outright?" asked Balto.

"No," I said.

"No?" he asked, "sorry, I must've misheard you; but did you just say "No"?"

"Dag took me in and trained me so I could assume the mantle of captain when he died, as part of a promise he made to my father, he sacrificed his life just to fulfill said promise," I said, "but there's still something that's bothering me."

"What?" asked Balto.

I looked at Balto for a few minutes before speaking.

"Kento… he's Blackheart isn't he?" I asked.

Balto paused before speaking as well.

"Yes," he said.

"I thought as much," I said, "Balto… I need to know why. Why did Blackheart kill my father?"

"Sara-Beth-"

I put a hand up to stop him.

"I didn't want to hear it from your side," I said, "I want to hear it from his side, from Kent… Blackheart's side."

Balto sighed and nodded.

"I understand," he said.

I sailed the ship further and further until I reached the Caribbean border, I motioned for everyone to bring the ship to a full stop. I looked out into the distance and pulled out my spyglass, I didn't see a ship.

"We must be early," I said.

"It's going to take a while for Blackheart to get here," said Balto, "if I know the _Firestorm_ , it packs a lot of firepower; but it's slow, so Blackheart and his crew won't be here until close to the evening."

"Then we have a little bit of time to kill," I said, "tell the men to load all of the weapons, I want to make sure that we're ready to fire on Blackheart in case things get… nasty."

The hours slowly passed by, the crew were gingerly waiting for Blackheart to arrive, for the party to get started; when it came close to the evening and I went topside, I saw the ship approaching.

 _"_ _It's time,"_ I thought.

I looked at the helm of the _Firestorm_ and saw him, Blackheart, approaching the border. When he was in my sight, I motioned for him to come over to me, he did. I walked over to the railing of the ship and watched as Blackheart slowed down until he came to a complete stop, when he saw me garbed in my father's robes, he smirked and scoffed.

"You look just like your father," he said, "except with a more… curvy, feminine figure."

"Gearr an cac Blackheart, chomaoin agat dom roinnt freagraí (Cut the shit Blackheart, you owe me some answers)," I said.

"I don't owe you shit-"

"YOU DO!" I interrupted, "you killed my mother, you killed my father, you nearly slew all of Dag's crew and for what? What Blackheart!?"

Blackheart cocked his head to the left.

"You owe me some goddamn answers and I _demand_ to know why you did what you did before I put you down," I growled.

"Long story," said Blackheart, "but the short version is that it doesn't matter, because you sure as hell aren't getting any answers from me."

I growled and balled my hands into fists.

"Now, move that little gunboat out of the way before I do it for you," he said.

"Okay…" I said, "tine (fire)!"

The ship fired on the _Firestorm_ , hammering it with full force, bits and pieces flew off in all directions. Blackheart gave me a look of shock, I simply motioned for my crew to bring us to full sail and we took off.

"Get her! Get Sara-Beth! I want her head!" I heard Blackheart yell.

 _"_ _That's right you treacherous dog, give chase,"_ I thought.

And that's what he did, the _Firestorm_ chased down the _Lunar Maiden_ through the water, the small, choppy waves slapped against both vessels as they moved away from the Caribbean border and up north. I looked back and turned the ship around.

"Get the cannons ready, prepare to fire on my mark!" I ordered.

"Ready the cannons!" barked Balto.

The crew started moving now, running across the deck, running below deck and monitoring the sails as we made our way back towards the _Firestorm_. As we drew closer, I saw Blackheart's ship start to turn.

"Ready the chain shot!" I ordered.

"Chain shot's loaded captain!" one of the crew called out.

"Tine (Fire)!" I ordered.

The ship fired, striking the sails with incredible speed and force from the impact. I was pleased that the rounds made a direct hit, but it didn't do much damage, I needed to really hurt the _Firestorm_ , and so I made a slight turn so the broadside cannons would by aimed right at the front of Blackheart's ship.

"Cannons loaded captain!" one of the crew called out.

"Captain, the _Firestorm_ is turning to fire on us!" another one of the crew called out.

I only gritted my teeth and gripped the wheel, if Blackheart's ship was slow when it came to pursuing targets, I knew it had to be slow with turning. When I brought the ship a little way past the front of the _Firestorm_ , I ordered the crew to fire and we hammered the enemy with a volley of cannonballs. I wasn't finished yet, I brought the ship over to the left side of the _Firestorm_ and…

"Gunnaí móra mórbhileoige, tine! Sclóinte, dul chun na pointí lag! Cripple an mac soith (Broadside cannons, fire! Swivels, go for the weak points! Cripple this son of a bitch)!" I ordered.

The _Lunar Maiden_ rocked from the left side as she spewed another volley of cannonballs on the _Firestorm_ , causing the vessel to rock and start smoking from the damage it had just received.

"You little bitch, take this!" barked Blackheart.

Blackheart motioned for the crew to fire.

"Brace!" I ordered.

Everyone ducked as the _Firestorm_ on us, hammering the _Lunar Maiden_ , my crew cried out in pain from the plethora of explosions caused by the cannon fire. When I looked up and turned, I saw Blackheart turned around and was about to give chase again. I wasn't about to have this bastaird (bastard) and I play a game of cat 'n' mouse, I came here to end him. I turned the ship around and made my way back towards the _Firestorm_.

"Balto, what does it take to cripple an enemy vessel?" I asked.

"You either have to take out the captain or the sails to cripple the enemy," he said, "why?"

"I just wanted to know," I said, "Grant! Tell the men to aim high, load the cannons with chain shot."

"Yes, captain," he said.

I turned the ship around again, turning to the right and making my way towards the Caribbean border. I looked back and saw the _Firestorm_ turn and still give chase.

 _"_ _I need to give my crew some time to load the cannons,"_ I thought.

No sooner had a I said that though…

"Cannons loaded, captain!" someone called out.

I nodded and turned the ship around again, aiming all cannons on the _Firestorm's_ broadside.

"On my command," I said.

When the _Lunar Maiden_ was starting to pass the _Firestorm_ , I ordered the crew to fire. I saw Blackheart's reaction as the chain shot, literally tore the ship a part. I smiled at the destruction I caused, even let out a silent "Yes!" when I saw that the ship had finally been incapacitated.

"Blackheart! I've incapacitated your ship, are you going to talk now?" I asked.

"Go to hell!" he called out.

I frowned and turned the ship around.

"Then I'm coming aboard!" I called out.


	22. Chapter 21: Father, Daughter, Betrayer

Chapter 21

The father, the daughter, and the betrayer

I moved the _Lunar Maiden_ over to the right of the _Firestorm_ and ordered the crew to bring Blackheart's ship in close for boarding, they obeyed.

"Men! Kill them all!" I ordered, "but leave Blackheart to me… he falls to my blade."

The battle began. Muskets, went off, swords collided with swords, I even saw a few grenades get tossed across the deck, as Sea Wolf pirates, Blackfire pirates, Assassins and Templars faced off, I took up a little possession and fired off a few shots with my bow.

 _Twang! Thock!_

 _Twang! Thock!_

 _Twang! Thock!_

 _Twang Thock!_

I looked over and saw Balto in a fight with two Templars. I growled and drew two arrows.

"Balto! Faigh síos (Balto! Get down)!" I barked.

Balto turned and dropped.

 _Twang!_ I fired.

 _Th-Thock!_ Killed both Templars dead.

Balto turned and gave me a thumbs up, I smiled, sheathed my bow and jumped across to the _Firestorm_ , where I was quickly met by a pair of Templars. I drew both of my flintlocks and fired, shooting them both in the head, when I turned and saw two more Templars approach from the right, I rolled out of the way as they each swung on me, drew my other pair of flintlocks and fired, shooting them both in the chest and dropping them to the ground dead.

 _"_ _Now… where are you Blackheart?"_ I thought.

I sheathed my second pair of flintlocks and marched through the chaos, sword in hand and at the ready. Sure enough, I was approached by two Blackfire pirates, who were quick to engage me.

"Faigh outta mo bhealach (Get outta my way)!" I ordered.

When the first pirate swung on me, I spun to his right and slashed him right across the side and drove my sword through his back, killing him. When the second pirate came at me, we traded a few strikes for a few seconds before I get him across his left thigh with a low slash and slashed his throat open, killing him. I looked up at the helm of the ship and saw him, Blackheart, my final target. I growled and marched over to the steps, only to notice two of his Templar officers come do to meet me.

"I don't have time for you two," I said with annoyance.

The two Templars charged and lunged at me, each of them doing a jump slash with their weapons and forcing me onto my back foot in mere seconds. I looked up at Blackheart as I entered a blade lock with the second Templar, he just smiled down at me and wagged his finger.

"You might wear your father's armor, but you're not his equal," he said.

That was the last straw, in a fit of rage, I jumped at the Templar I was locked with, causing him to push me away. When he reached for his flintlock, he was shocked to see that it was gone.

"Looking for this?" I asked.

The Templar looked up and gasped, I pulled the trigger and fired, shooting my target in the head and killing him. When I looked the right, I ducked as the first Templar swung on me, then I struck him in the face with his friend's own flintlock and drove my sword through his neck, killing him. I threw down the Templar flintlock and marched up to the helm of the ship, I glared at Blackheart and gripped my sword to the point where my knuckles were starting to turn white.

"Isn't this a good serving of nostalgia? Your father gave me the same expression when I mortally wounded his precious Raven Queen Jessabelle," said Blackheart.

I gritted my teeth.

"I don't know who this "Jessabelle" and quite frankly, I don't give a damn Blackheart, you killed my father, you killed my mother, you killed my master and captain," I said firmly, "now, you owe me some answers! Why!? Why did you have to kill them!?"

"Why are you so hell-bent on knowing why I killed your parents?" he asked.

I've had enough.

" _Bás_ ( _Die_ )!" I screamed.

I lunged forward and slammed my sword against Blackheart's, at the same time, the sound of thunder and echoed from a few miles away, I'm not really all too keen on signs; but I think this was god's way of saying that things were about to get messy.

"If you won't tell me what I need to know, I'll tear you a part you motherfucker!" I screamed.

Blackheart only smiled at me as we traded strikes with each other, our swords becoming blurs of shining steel as he slashed, parried, flourished, and blocked each of our respective strikes. When Blackheart and I got in a blade lock, he shoved me back a few steps and struck me with the back of his fist; but I spun right around and kicked him right in the jaw, blood and spit flew off of Blackheart's lip as I lunged forward, delivered a couple of slashes and struck him with two spin kicks, one to the jaw and another to the ribs.

"I'll kill you!" I screamed.

"Yes, yes, hate me more," Blackheart said with a sinister laugh, "that pain, that pain you feel right now, _that_ is the pair I felt in your heart when your father turned his back on me!"

"Shut up!" I screamed.

I jumped forward and punched Blackheart right in the nose, causing drops of blood to stop dripping onto the ground. I was so angry with him… no… I was more than angry with Blackheart; I was more than hateful towards him… this feeling… what was this feeling inside of me?

"Your father and I were good friends Sara-Beth, we could've done so many great things together; but no, he went and decided to live the life of a normal man!" barked Blackheart, "he left me Sara-Beth, he left me! And after we've stuck together through thick and thin like brothers!"

Blackheart and I crossed swords again, our blades slamming into each other, sparks flew everywhere after each impact, causing the air around us to catch fire. When Blackheart went for a slash, another slash and then a thrust, I dodged the slashes, parried the thrust and punched him right in the ribs. When I went for a low kick, Blackheart stepped to my left and kicked me right in my ribs, causing me to go over.

"He should've killed her, he should've ended her life, it was _her_ fault so much had happened to the entire crew! And in the end _I_ received the weak link! She earned the position of quartermaster!" screamed Blackheart.

"What the hell… are you talking about?" I groaned as I struggled to stand.

Blackheart looked down at me and shook his head.

"Didn't Dag teach you anything?" he asked as he reached behind his head and pulled something over it, "I WAS A MEMBER OF THE ASSASSINS!"

I gasped, his coat wasn't just a regular coat, it was a set of Assassin robes!

"Your father and I… _we_ formed The Night Ravens, a band of the most notorious pirates in all of the Caribbean… _we_ trained the officers the way of the Assassin Brotherhood… but all of that changed when Jessabelle Red entered our lives and made things a living hell!" screamed Blackheart, "it was _her_ fault that your father was almost killed and it as _her_ fault that she nearly destroyed everything your father and I built… but he calls me jealous… he says I'm being paranoid, when _all_ I was doing was protecting _him_ for the same pain that _I_ went through before we met!"

Blackheart marched over to me.

"Your father shot me Sara-Beth, he shot me because I tried to remove the cause of all of our problems," he said firmly, "he tried to have me killed! Well look where you are Rowland! Look where you are now! Now you know my pain!"

I didn't say anything, as much as I wanted to believe him when he said that he wanted my father to know his pain, I knew better than to believe that. Never the less, it all made sense now: My father wasn't killed out of spite, whoever this "Jessabelle Red" is or was, she must've caused Blackheart to become consumed with jealousy and hate. I don't know where Blackheart got "Now you know my pain", but I can only assume that was nothing more than an excuse for him to justify killing my parents in cold blood.

"Maybe I was wrong about you," I said breathlessly.

Blackheart looked down at me.

"So you understand," he said with a smile.

Blackheart helped me to my feet and dusted me off.

"Finally after so many years, someone understands me," he said with a smile.

I looked up at Blackheart and smiled at him.

"Believe me Blackheart, I understand," I said, "I fully understand."

Blackheart pulled me in close and we hugged, he even chuckled and gave me a good pat on the back. Unbeknownst to Blackheart, my smile quickly faded.

"Tuigim go bhfuil tú i do dÚsachtach, santach, féin-lárnaithe, bastaird fuar-blooded (I understand that you're a crazy, selfish, self-centered, cold-blooded bastard)!" I exclaimed.

Before he could react, I drove my knee into Blackheart's stomach and knocked him over with a shoulder tackle. I watched as Blackheart quickly rose to his feet and spat out a drop of blood.

"I share my answers with you! I share my answers with you Sara-Beth and yet you shoot them down!" he exclaimed.

"No, you only gave me bits and pieces so I could put the answer together myself!" I exclaimed, "this isn't about letting my father know your pain! This was never about that at all! You were jealous! You were jealous because someone loved my father for more than what he was to you!" I exclaimed, "I don't know who this "Jessabelle Red" is, but you had no right to try and take her from my father!"

"So what if I was jealous? So what!? Your father's dead Sara-Beth! He's dead and you're going to join him when this is over," growled Blackheart.

I smirked and picked my sword up, I gave it a quick brandish and got in my battle stance.

"Alright then…" I said, "a ligean ar rince (lat's dance)!"

Blackheart and I crossed blades again, rain also started to fall at the same time, thunder rolled and lightning crackled as the battle continued to rage on between both bands of pirates and their respective captains. Blackheart might've been older, wiser, and better than me when it came to being an Assassin and/or a Templar; but I wasn't about to be underestimated. Blackheart and I continually slashed at one another, our swords appearing to flowing in the wind with each strike we delivered until we locked blades; but with a kick to the shin, I managed to break the lock and strike him in the face with my elbow, Blackheart retaliated by grabbing me by the face and throwing me at the wheel of his ship, slamming my back into it. I let out a pained scream and looked up to see him coming at me.

 _"_ _Oh no you don't!"_ I thought.

I rolled out of the way as Blackheart thrust his sword into the wheel, then I hopped to my feet, and kicked Blackheart right in the back of the knee. Blackheart grimaced and turned around, pulling his sword out and bringing it up towards my neck, I leaned back to dodge the attack; but was immediately met with a punch to my cheek. I spat up droplets of blood, when I turned to face Blackheart, I leaned back when he tried to get me in the neck with his wrist blade.

"That's cheating!" I snapped when I stood back up.

"No, this is," he said.

Without warning, I was hit with a handful of smoke powder, I covered my eyes and dropped to my knees, unable to see for a few seconds… which was enough for Blackheart to kick me right in the stomach. I grimaced and groaned in pain, I spat up more blood and gripped my chest.

"Taste the blade that struck down your father," Blackheart said as he walked over.

I growled and brought my opponent down with a sweep of my leg. I rose to my feet, Blackheart was quick to do the same before jumping forward and trading strikes with me again. As much as I didn't want to admit it, but it honestly felt like we were evenly matched… or so I thought… until I took a kick to the ribs which dropped me to one knee and then I fully dropped to the floor as Blackheart lashed out at me with an overhead chop. For a moment, I thought he missed, until I felt something running down my right cheek.

 _"_ _Well… there goes my asset,"_ I thought.

When I rose to my feet, I had a flintlock pistol facing me, I froze up fast.

"You're good Sara-Beth, really good, your father's blood runs clean through you," said Blackheart, "but unfortunately, it seems your luck has run out."

I was fucked, I didn't know what to do, I could dodge a bullet from afar, but I couldn't dodge one at close range.

"You think you have what it takes to wear your father's robes? You think that by putting them on you can call yourself… The Raven Queen? Like your father calls himself Raven Lord!?" he demanded, "you're just a fragile, lost child… and you're going to die like one."

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" exclaimed a voice.

In a flash, a throwing knife flew out of nowhere and hit Blackheart's flintlock, inadvertently disarming him, Blackheart and I turned to see Balto standing nearby. Blackheart was furious.

"You shit bird!" he roared, "I'll see you dead!"

But before Blackheart could jump at Balto and skewer him, I drove my sword through his back first.

"Not if I see you dead first," I said.


	23. Chapter 22: Justice not vengeance

Chapter 22

Justice not Vengeance

I pulled my sword out and watched as Blackheart dropped to his knees, consumed with fear and shock by what had just happened.

"Don't expect me to caress your cheek… and beg like the dying man that I am at this very moment," he said slowly, "I will not weep… and wonder what might've been… wonder why it had come to this."

Blackheart looked up at me and gave me a small smile.

"Still… I'm impressed with you in a way Sara-Beth," he said, "you've shown… determination… strength… persistence… qualities shared with you from your father… I'm sure… he would be very proud of you."

With his last breath, Blackheart hung his head and fell over… unmoving… unbreathing… dead. I want to say I feel satisfied… but I don't… Blackheart… I don't think he was even an enemy to begin with. I just think he was a man with a troubled past… could he have been redeemed? Could he have possibly been inducted into the brotherhood again? I don't know… and I don't think I'll ever know…

I walked over and knelt beside Blackheart, I let out a sigh as I stared into his eyes.

"Dia logh duit le haghaidh do peacaí, ionas gur féidir leat a fáilte roimh isteach ina ríocht le arm a oscailt. Is féidir leat chomh maith ... ath-bhunú do chairdeas le mo athair (May God forgive you for your sins, so you can be welcomed into his kingdom with open arms. May you also... re-establish your friendship with my father)," I said as I closed his eyes, "An chuid eile i síocháin ... Kento Briar (Rest in peace... Kento Briar)."

I rose to my feet and let out a sigh, I looked over at Balto, who gave me a small smile.

"So… how do you feel?" he asked as he walked over to me.

I shrugged.

"I don't know… I should feel happy… I should feel… like I accomplished something," I said, "but I don't… I don't even feel empty inside either. I just feel… warm… warm and light."

Balto put a hand on my shoulder.

"Because you learned not to use revenge as a motivation to get stronger," he said, "a good thing too. Something like that is a really bad mark to someone who's a member of the brotherhood."

I smiled.

"And you know something?" he asked.

"What?" I asked.

"Dag and your father… they'd be pretty damn proud of you," said Balto.

I turned and hugged Balto, I even gave him a big, wet kiss… which completely put him in a daze.

"I know," I said with a giggle.

I walked over to the railing of the helm and looked out over both factions, the Templars were on their knees and my Assassins had kept an eye on them. I smiled with satisfaction.

"So captain… what do you want to do with this lot?" asked one of the crew.

I pondered…

One month later…

It was May… or rather it was the middle of May. I can't believe it's been that long since I've killed Blackheart… it's almost amazing on how fast time seems to fly by. Since that time, the crew has seen a lot of change, Blackheart's surviving crew have joined us, denouncing their allegiance with the Templars and becoming members of the Assassins… well, the low ranked pirates did… the high ranked pirates and officers were executed, saying, "They refuse to serve an Irish-American whore". I don't know why people call me a whore, but I'm getting a little annoyed with it.

But more to the point, I had a word with my officers one night, and I told them about the inheritance my father left me. After a lot of debating, they all agreed to rename "The Sea Wolves" into "The Night Ravens", after my father's old crew during his youth. Now while my crew believed me when I said that my father left me an inheritance, Balto somehow knew better than that.

"He didn't just leave you an inheritance just like that… did he?" he asked as we walked across the beach.

I looked at him.

"How do you know he didn't?" I asked.

"I never knew," he said, "I just guessed. Now come on, what brought you to want to reform The Night Ravens?"

I looked down at the sand and blushed.

"My father… he left a pair of artifacts for me, each one with a recorded memory that showed me what I wanted to know," I said, "my father… he gave me possession of everything he owned before he died… including his ship."

Balto gasped and stopped.

"He gave you _The Grimmclaw_?" he asked.

"You know it?" I asked.

" _The Grimmclaw_ was one of the most infamous ships in all of the seven seas, so infamous that it earned the title of An Reaper na Farraige, The Reaper of the Sea," said Balto.

I was surprised, I had no idea this ship was so legendary.

"You are very lucky to have inherited such a ship," said Balto.

I smiled, Balto was right, I am lucky to have inherited a ship of such status. When I looked at Balto, I blushed deeply, the not because of his smile or the way his hair lightly blew with the wind; but the way the sunset managed to catch him just right.

"Balto," I said.

"Sara-Beth," he said.

Balto pulled me in close and we kissed, when I pulled away, I couldn't help but kiss Balto again. I have to admit, even though he has his moments where he teases me and makes me feel some sort of way… Balto can be… really, _really_ adorable.

"You know I love you right?" I asked with a giggle.

Balto chuckled and nodded.

"Yeah… I could tell by the kiss," he said, "come on captain, let's get back home.

I nodded. Balto and I headed back to the cabin, where we were confronted by London and the rest of the Cove Guard.

"London," I said.

"Hello Sara-Beth," he said, "listen… I know you've been through a lot and all… and I just wanted to tell you that if there's anything you need from the guard… anything at all, don't hesitate to ask."

I smiled and nodded.

"Thank you," I said.

"Yes, thank you London," said Balto.

"Oh, don't thank me, it's the least I can do… especially for your late captain," said London.

When he said that, I saw London trying to fight back some tears. How could I not have seen it before?

"You're Marcus's brother," I said.

London gasped and looked at me, I hugged him.

"I'm sorry," I said.

London stifled a sob.

"Keep his legacy alive… as well as your father's… alright kiddo?" he asked.

I nodded. Balto and I made our way back towards the cabin, where our now expanded crew was busy interacting with one another and having fun. Some of them even gave me and Balto a smile and a wave.

"So… I have to ask," said Balto, "how does it feel to be the youngest captain of your own crew of roustabouts?"

"Uncalled for," said one of my officers.

I giggled.

"If there's a word for this feeling that's going on inside of me right now… I don't really have the right word for it," I said.

Balto smiled.

"I'll accept that answer," he said, "but in all honesty, now that your captain… where to now?"

I looked out over my crew, both young and old, rugged and clean shaven, newly recruited and old time veteran. If this was what it was like for my father when he was captain of his crew… then he must've felt ecstatic whenever the crew came to him and asked what their next move was. So much authority… so much power… and it's mine… all mine, why? Because I'm Captain Sara-Beth of the newly formed Night Ravens!

"Balto… this world is full of all sorts of secrets that have been kept hidden from mankind for ages," I said, "I want to see it all. Which is why starting next week, we're going to take a trip to the Caribbean, it's time we let everyone know that The Night Ravens have come back."

The crew all cheered in unison. I smiled and laughed, Balto smiled and laughed with me. We've all been through some pretty sick hell; but we managed to win a pretty impressive victory, and while the Templars will probably be on our asses now that I killed Blackheart I don't even feel slightly afraid of them.

 _"_ _I'm the daughter of the greatest Assassin Pirate in all of the seven seas,"_ I thought confidently, _"if those bastards want to hound us, they can go right ahead, we cut down Blackheart and his goons, we'll take on anyone else who comes our way."_


	24. Epilogue

Epilogue

"What? What did you say?" I asked.

"Someone by the name of Ravenswood cut down Captain Blackheart," said my brother.

I frowned and jumped out of my bed.

"That's impossible, there's only two people with that last name, you and me," I said.

"I know what I heard Scarlet, if these rumors are true… then father might very well be alive after all of these years," said my brother.

I didn't say anything. Father… last I heard about him, he was killed by Captain Blackheart, I was hoping for the chance to end the bastard myself, especially after he nearly killed mother; but if father's really alive and he killed Blackheart…

"What's our next move Scarlet?" asked my brother.

"We find this person who carries our last name, Barton," I said as I headed topside, "if it's father, maybe we can talk him into coming back home with us to the old manor."

"And if it isn't father?" asked Barton.

I headed up to the wheel of the ship and pulled up my hood.

"Then that imposter will be no match for _The Red Storm_ ," I said, "alright! Bring us to full sail everyone!"

"Full sail, let's catch some wind!" barked Barton.

I smiled as the sails unfurled and we lurched away from the docks, right out into the open water.

 _"I do hope it's you father, and if it isn't, I'm going to kill the bastard who struck him down and took our family's last name,"_ I thought.

To be continued…


End file.
